The bat flinched at the fourth voice, but this one was different. This one she could turn her head and see. She saw it. What was it? A bird? It had feathers, it was blue. What was it? The voices asked and asked and she was so confused. She didn't know what was what, who was who. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, but it did nothing but hurt her head more.

"Can you not hear them? They're talking so loud. They want my body but I don't want to give it up."

But it's mine!

"Shut up," she hissed. She pawed at her ears unhappily before turning to the bird thing. "My head hurts," she whimpered.

Stop complaining. At least you have control.

Hush, you're being mean. Take it easy.

Not until I'm in control!

The two argued some more about being quiet while the bat whimpered softly, curling up into a ball. She was so scared, so confused.

Caliante
Salvation
Rusty
Crack

Speech is "Bold". Thoughts are italicized.

Tag: @Amras
Notes:

Amras shook his head to the question. He had been listening closely and but the only sound aside from the two of them was the constant droning of the winds above them. He very much doubted that the tornado had actual sentience to speak with them, so that meant that whatever was speaking to the bat was either too far away from him to recognize or within the bat's perception alone.

And between the talk of headaches and wanting to take their body they didn't sound very nice.

"Unfortunately I have no answers for you, your emergence seems to have brought with it some strange side-effects" he spoke with some regret. What manner of foul luck had befallen these caves with the loss of light that the newly emerged would face such dire hardships? If only the youth had questions about life or magic he might be able to provide some insight but this was something completely unexpected.

While he was unable to provide insight into the most pressing need at the moment perhaps he could attend to a lesser need instead. The gryphon reached over and took hold of a wooden box nearby, a memento from a previous encounter, and slid it near the creature. Water sloshed inside, barely more than a quick thirst quencher for a creature as big as Amras but enough to provide for the bat for as long as they needed to recover here.

"Perhaps have some water for the headache? Monoceros doesn't have much on its own but I maker regular trips to the next room over to gather water to drink."

---

Pouch 1: Baubled talc rods x1	Pouch 2: Charcoal dust (50 in3)	Pouch 3: Empty	Pouch 4: Charcoal chunks x7 (medium)
Back bag: Empty

Take hold of the power within
"And shape the fabric of reality around you"
tags: @Umbra
notes: None

While the bat tried to push herself further into her head, one of the voices jumped in front. Happy that he finally had control, he uncurled himself and looked up, his gray eyes glimmering, but then instantly reeled back from the sudden banging headeache. "Ow, what is that? I feel like I'm dying!"

As with the first one, he tried to push himself away while the third one, seeing their opportunity, jumped into control.

The bat's body stopped and then straightened up, looking around with deep brown eyes. "Finally," they growled, "I have control of my body." But then it felt the pain in its head as well and cringed. "You know what? Nevermind. I'll come back later."

They then dived into the back and the first voice was back, their eyes blinking back to black. Confused and scared, she curled up again. She looked up at the bird, who was probably terrified at what had just happened. After all, she was terrified at what had just happened. "Sorry, I'm not sure...what..."

But then her head started spinning again and she curled on the ground. When the gryphon pushed water in front of her, she took one look and instantly dived her face in, drinking eagerly. Finally, the two other voices sighed with the same content that she felt and went silent.

Fine, I guess you could have control for a while.

The bat pulled its head out. "Thank you," she gasped with relief, both towards the bird and the voice.

After a few more draughts, she sat back, feeling much better, although her head was still in a lot of pain. She wondered what it was from. She wondered if it was the voices. Or the wind. Or something else.

But now that the voices were no longer talking, she payed more attention to the bird. She looked up at it, realizing how big it was compared to her. She crouched, intimidated, but continued to look at it regardless. "W-who are you anyways? Why are you helping me? I-I mean, us."

Caliante
Salvation
Rusty
Crack

Speech is "Bold". Thoughts are italicized.

Tag: @Amras
Notes:

Without warning the bat's demeanor changed. The change was subtle, positioning, movement cadence, vocal patterns. If it weren't for the previous oddities Amras might have missed it or dismissed it for the actions of a confused child. In this context though it simply caused him to lean in ever so slightly with narrowed eyes, his curiosity piqued.

The bat changed again, and once more spoke of control of its body. This time though it was about taking control of the body rather than not wanting to give up control. Brows raised at the alarming implications this suggested. He'd never heard of such a thing, but had this gembound been born with multiple selves attached to its gem? He knew that gembound could be revived in new forms after death, and he knew that such a process usually resulted in a hybrid with no memory of its past lives. Could this youth be a new form of revival, one whose past selves refused to fade away?

An interesting speculation, not yet refined enough to voice even as the youth reverted once again to its initial mannerisms. It seemed more at rest and with a chuckle Amras noted it seemed quite appreciative of the water.

"My name is Amras, a researcher of magic and resident of this part of the cave." for now. He'd probably move again when the lights returned but this would always be his home in the dark.

Realizing that he had learned in a bit closer than was likely comfortable Amras relaxed his posture and regarded the youth with a friendly smile. "I came into this world in much the same way as you did- alone in complete darkness amidst the eternal winds. That encounter had nearly killed me as soon as I awoke, so I didn't want to see another find themselves fall to such a fate if I could help it."

"How about you, young bat? Do you have a title for me to refer to you by?"

---

Pouch 1: Baubled talc rods x1	Pouch 2: Charcoal dust (50 in3)	Pouch 3: Empty	Pouch 4: Charcoal chunks x7 (medium)
Back bag: Empty

Take hold of the power within
"And shape the fabric of reality around you"
tags: @Umbra
notes: None

"A-m-r-a-s..." She spoke the name slowly, rolling it around on her tongue. The bird was Amras. Were all birds like this calle an Amras? Or just this one? Or is Amras the only bird like this? She didn't know, but she wanted to know. She wanted to meet others like Amras, but she was scared. Scared that they would be scared of her because she was scared of herself.

But magic? What was that? She was interested. She wanted to know about magic. Could she do magic? "What's magic? I'd like to do magic!" Maybe then she could get as big as Amras. Maybe that's why he was so huge.

But her name? Did she have a name? Or was she supposed to make one?

"What's my name?"

You mean what's our name?

No, you dope, she wants to know what her name is.

But aren't we all the same?

"I don't think so." She had not yet realized that she was speaking aloud.

Why don't you call yourself Amras?

"But that's his name."

Call yourself Bat.

"I'm not going to call myself Bat!"

Caliante.

The voices stopped. They were not used to hearing this voice, for it was quiet and it was strange. It scared them a little, but they could not do much about it.

I don't like it.

And your name is Rusty.

I don't want to be called Rusty!

Oooo what's my name?

Salvation.

"What about you?"

The voice was silent. Mystified, she turned away from her inner voice and spoke this time to Amras. "My name's Caliante."

Caliante
Salvation
Rusty
Crack

Speech is "Bold". Thoughts are italicized.

Tag: @Amras
Notes:

The youth continued speaking as though there were more creatures in the room than they could see. More support for his running theory. How strange it would be to live like that though! And for the selves that hold onto the stone in the background how terrifying it must be to have little to no control over what is registered as your own body.

As she spoke amongst herselves the gryphon lowered his gaze to gather mottled talc rods from the floor, scattered from a previous magical mishap. What better way to answer her question than by demonstration? Unfortunately, many of the rods that had been scattered had broken, a disappointment offset by the amusement of overhearing the child's search for a name. He only needed twelve for now though, and for that purpose he had enough.

Talon reached up and placed most of the chalk upon a pile on the shelf near Caliante as she spoke her name. The gryphon's gaze still held a great bit of curiosity at the strange creature born in wind, but based on his own physical oddities they certainly wouldn't have been the first anomaly produced by the tornado.

"It is good to meet you then, Caliante; and if my theory is correct then I send out greetings to the other selves within the stone as well."

In his right talon he held one of the rods, which he brought up in view of his visitor, making sure the gem on the back of his arm was visible as well. "As far as your question; magic is a skill bestowed upon all gembound, with each of us having specialization in one of twelve elements."

The milky quartz rod on his forearm began to emit a soft white glow. "The simplest form of natural element creates shockwaves, but over time I've learned..."

The light in his gem changed to a soft yellow color as the spell reached the shaping phase, allowing him to mentally twist the element until it changed in nature to light. "that with practice I could change its type and effects."

A pool of almost invisible pale-yellow energy gathered around this talon and began to integrate itself into the chalk piece. Finally, with the shaping phase done he allowed the spell to manifest, causing the magic inside the talc rod to activate and flooding its essence with a soft yellow light that illuminated the shelf it was held above.

What element, he wondered, would Caliante have, and how would their oddity effect it? It would initially make sense for them to be arcane element but predicting affinity was rarely quite so straightforward.

---

Pouch 1: Baubled talc rods x2	Pouch 2: Charcoal dust (50 in3)	Pouch 3: Empty	Pouch 4: Charcoal chunks x7 (medium)
Back bag: Empty

Take hold of the power within
"And shape the fabric of reality around you"
tags: @Umbra
notes: None

The voices inside started an uproar when Amras greeted all of them. They all wanted to say hello and introduce themselves as well and tried to push themselves to the front. With great effort, Caliante managed to hold them back. With her face screwed up with concentration, she managed to speak to Amras, "Thanks, they say hello as well."

But what did Amras mean by stone? Was it the thing on her stomach? She looked down at the polished black stone. She noticed a strange pattern on it, like many points shining out. It was white, but she wondered if it changed colors when Rusty or Salvation were in control.

But then she was distracted by Amras's magic lesson. She listened carefully, as did the other voices, drinking in every word. She watched with awe as the rod burst into light. She gasped and shut her eyes at its intensity.

Whoah, whoah, hey! I want to see!

"Sorry," she muttered and opened her eyes again. She squinted at the bauble, kind of wanting the light to extinguish, but curious and excited about it. How did he do it?

Hey, Caliante, maybe you can use magic!
Try it!

So she focused and tried to do as Amras told her, focusing on the gem on her stomach. So all magic was shockwaves. She could certainly feel something down there. Perhaps it was the magic. So she focused on that and tried to bring it up and let it loose. She doubted she could be as precise as Amras, but she decided to let the magic and what she could do with it decide.

She didn't realize she was still partly thinking about how she wanted the light to dim, so as the magic was released from her body, the cave went dark, the lights dimming until they were barely visible. She blinked open her eyes and looked around, surprised at what she had just done.

Wow, that was so cool!

Oh yes, she can turn lights off. It's a big deal.

What is important here is that she has magic. Which means that we have magic.

Caliante shivered. She did not like the dark, ambitious tone that the voice carried this time. She was beginning to fear it and what its intentions were. While they shared the body, she realized that she did not know what they were thinking.

All of a sudden, she found herself pushed back, her senses disappearing and her vision becoming like a small screen.

And then the bat blinked, its eyes changing to a bright purple, which matched the streaks on its gem. It said nothing as it looked around, marveling in the world. For so long, it had felt nothing but the darkness. But now it had a body, a body it had so desperately sought. However, it knew that it couldn't keep it for long. But it just needed it for a little while, for now.

It looked at Amras with a sharp gaze. "Show me more." It was a cold demand, not a question. It wanted to see what else magic could do and what it could learn. It wanted to learn it all.

Caliante
Salvation
Rusty
Crack

Speech is "Bold". Thoughts are italicized.

Tag: @Amras
Notes:

((I'm not sure you can actually do color changes based on character state without magic involved. I'd suggest sending an inquiry to CJ for that one))

The gryphon let out a short chuckle as Caliante, in her relaying of intent, confirmed at least some aspects of his theory. There were others there it seemed, but whether they were past selves attached to her gem or alternate modes of thought compartmentalized into different personalities or any other possible explanation was anyone's guess. His specialization was magic itself, but he was far from the only knowledge seeker in the caves. Surely another would have better luck than him at discerning the exact situation. For now he could only take it at face value.

She had listened intently through the demonstration, and apparently was a quick study! Almost as soon as the talc in his hand burst into light it dimmed once again- not in a way that suggested a lack of power but in a way that almost seemed like competing energy acting upon it.

Another usage of light magic no doubt, he'd have to remember that one.

The gryphon placed the chalk piece away in his leftmost pouch and was about to congratulate her when once more the bat's disposition changed drastically. Subtle idle movements stilled, head positioning and expressions of the eyes shifted, overall stance became notably different. Knowing what had been established this was probably another self, hidden inside the bat's frame.

"I would be glad to, young one." he responded to the chilled words the bat now spoke with, the same voice but different tones. "Am I to assume you are no longer the one I was speaking to a moment before? Do you have a name?"

Even as he spoke his attention was only half-spent on the situation at hand, with the other half gleefully deciding on the next demonstration. He had shown light magic before, one of his linear elements, and while he was on the cusp of breaking into the proper procedure for 'external' elements as his subconscious had referred to them he probably would need some more work before utilizing them. Among the four internal elements he had managed to use three so far- water, arcane, and pressure, with only animal remaining- residing in the primal core. He knew where the core was located now, how hard could it be to shape magic along its rhythm?

His arm was lowered to the ground now so the white light was probably not as easy to see as he gathered magic from around him. With short breaths he tried to concentrate deep within himself, following the internal river to its core and attuning the shaping to the core's beats. The light began to turn red and a thin layer of energy spread itself along the surface of his skin until.

Poof

In his excitement at seeing the spell come to fruition the rhythm of the core sped up, going out of sync with his magic and causing a good chunk of it to revert to the energy element and manifest. A low energy shockwave erupted from his skin with just enough force to send all his fur and feathers on its end- especially visible on his wings where he had actual feathers rather than just down like on the bulk of his body.

---

Pouch 1: Baubled talc rods x2	Pouch 2: Charcoal dust (50 in3)	Pouch 3: Empty	Pouch 4: Charcoal chunks x7 (medium)
Back bag: Empty

Take hold of the power within
"And shape the fabric of reality around you"
tags: @Umbra
notes: None

The bat blinked and ignored Amras's question. Instead, it watched as he tried to perform his magic, only to fail. They all noticed the thin layer of energy and his feathers stand on end, but when nothing else happened, they all responded with varying opinions.

Wow, that was cool!

Um, I'm not sure that that was supposed to happen...

Obviously it wasn't. What kind of stupid spell would that be?

As for the unnamed being in control, it narrowed its eyes in disappointment. "That's all? Not very impressive." It had thought this bird would know some incredible spells, magic that was big and obvious and destructive. At least, that's what it wanted to see. What was the point of magic otherwise?

Don't be so mean. He probably just messed up. Mistakes happen.

"If he claims to be a researcher of magic,
then he should know how to wield it."

Apparently none of them realized that they were speaking out loud when talking to the others.

But you saw that energy, right? He did use magic!

"Not the right kind," it growled, lowly. These other creatures, inferior, stupid things, were getting so annoying. However, with all three of them still pressuring for control, it knew it couldn't hold on forever. It was determined at least to see one more spell, one spell that worked and was what it was looking for.

Caliante
Salvation
Rusty
Crack

Speech is "Bold". Thoughts are italicized.

Tag: @Amras
Notes:

Despite the bat's obvious lack of interest in the spell failure Amras raised his brows in an amused grin. He knew not to hold it too long though, lest this new version of the bat feel he was mocking them. Like Envy this personality, he guessed, was fully aware of the harsh hand that had been dealt to it and was in the process of learning to deal with the reality. That youth, unable to eat or drink without poisoning themselves, had lashed out in grief and desperation wanting power to overcome their plight. This one mostly seemed sour at their lot in life, and was probably looking for something to distinguish themselves from the others.

The gryphon's expression fell to a soft peaceful gaze as he took a couple moments to flatten this feathers out again. "Magic is a precarious thing, like a powerful wild animal. That is the one and only constant in its behavior I've seen across all greater gembounds."

As though fully unfazed by the bat's youthful words Amras placed his talon upon the shelf again, palm up so the gem could be plainly seen again. "For many gembound magic is instinctual, as ingrained as speaking words. They go through life and stumble upon new spells and elements as their environment bestows. It comes as easily as breath but unpredictably hiccups and refuses to act every once in a while. My magic in contrast requires fine control to cast- typically having a build phase, a shaping phase, and a final phase where the magic manifests. At any one of those steps the magic may lash out and break the process.

Those were indeed the two extremes, with most gembounds holding magic which behaved somewhere in the middle of instinct and intent. "For example, for me to use the electricity element I must first build raw magic of my own energy element"

His gem began to glow white as the beginnings of a spell came into being, an aura of similarly white energy flowing into the palm of his hand.

"I’ll hold a portion of it in place as I enter the shaping phase and twist the top half into the light element."

Some of the white energy flattened out and the remaining bit rose into a nearly invisible spire which became pale yellow, the same color as his stone now.

"Then I intensify that light magic until it transmutes into fire."

The soft yellow energy grew in size and intensity until all at once it and his stone shifted to orange.

"And finally take that energy magic from earlier and use it to enclose and condense the fire magic until it changes nature once again."

The white shell that had been between the orange energy and his hand lifted up around the rest and formed a sphere, quickly shrinking from being held in his entire talon to being just a small orb at the tip of two fingers that flashed into a brilliant yellow. The eternal orb sprang into full existence as Amras pointed it away from them at a blank wall, allowing one wall of the orb to rupture and release the electricity inside. The lightning bolt cracked with a sound that overwhelmed even the wind and a portion of the wall he had aimed the spell at shattered, sending small bits of dust and rubble tumbling down.

"Hopefully you won't have to go through such a complex process to learn different types of magic. Perhaps since there are more than one you can work together to find your own unique path." He added optimistically.

---

Pouch 1: Baubled talc rods x2	Pouch 2: Charcoal dust (50 in3)	Pouch 3: Empty	Pouch 4: Charcoal chunks x7 (medium)
Back bag: Empty

Take hold of the power within
"And shape the fabric of reality around you"
tags: @Umbra
notes: None