The bat watched greedily as the bolt of lightning struck from Amras's hand. It had barely listened to what the elder had spoken to him - none of that was important. Elements, natures, it was all just magic. It, at least, understood this. It doubted that the others did, that they believed what Amras was saying. They would find their inner element and it would be theirs. They would only learn from that. It would do better.

But its control was slipping. The strength it had taken to wrench it away from Caliante had shortened its time. It's vision was shimmering and its touch was dulling. Quickly, it let itself fall back. A random voice was thrown into the front and the bat blinked with confusion at this sudden turn of events.

"Wait, what? What just happened?"

He then realized that he was finally in control. Remembering the bolt of lightning from just a moment ago, he sprung over to where it had hit the wall. The headache they all shared instantly swung down on him and he staggered, but wanted to see. There was a hole in the wall and the whole air crackled with energy.

His eyes gleaming, he turned back to Amras. "Wow, that was so cool! Can you teach me to do stuff like that?"

Wait, I want to learn magic! Wouldn't it be cool to shoot fire out of your mouth?

That sounds like it would hurt. I'd rather stick with my light magic.

They waited a moment for the last one to respond, but all they detected was waves and waves of interest and dark greed. Scared, they tried to pull themselves away from that part of their mind.

Caliante
Salvation
Rusty
Crack

Speech is "Bold". Thoughts are italicized.

Tag: @Amras
Notes:

Amras allowed his talon to fall back to the ground as he sat there watching the bat's reaction. The bolt spell had certainly grabbed their attention more than the failed attempt had, though their expression held for only a short while before shifting in a way that suggested they had either realized something or they had disappeared from the small creature's physical form once more.

This would certainly take some time to get used to. The new stance seemed a bit more active than either of the other two had but with so little to go by it was hard to tell for sure.

"By all means, I would be happy to help guide you, though I'm afraid you may find that magic outside your stone's native attunement will take longer to attain mastery over."

Probably. One of the entities of the bat had reacted with light magic, which indicated there was a good possibility that light was their native element. If the other selves could use other magic as easily as that then it would certainly be telling for the nature of magic itself; indicate that it was a product of the spirit channeled through the stone rather than a product of the stone directed by the spirit. For most gembound that distinction made no actual difference, but with multiple spirits sharing a stone it might now be possible to tell for sure what mechanism was in place!

"Perhaps I could provide a quick map of my knowledge of the elements, or a space where you can attempt to weave spells without fear of damaging anything?"

As long as the lights were out he wasn't going anywhere for very long. Though he had plenty to do with bringing life to the symbols of his dream, having company to teach for a while would not be an unpleasant alternative.

---

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's eyes gleamed at the prospect of learning magic. He wondered what kind of magic he would use. If Caliante was light and Rusty was fire, he wanted to be something solid, something grounding. He wasn't a huge fan of the wings that made up his arms, so maybe his magic could be the alternative.

"Yes, please, I'd like to learn about magic! And the elements! And then I want to make my own magic! He quivered with excitement at the prospect.

However, there was still a section of him that was uneasy. He could feel the dark interest and close observance that was coming from the fourth voice and it made him uncertain. They didn't know anything about that one. And they had a feeling that its greed was going to be bad.

Caliante
Salvation
Rusty
Crack

Speech is "Bold". Thoughts are italicized.

Tag: @Amras
Notes:

((Sorry on the delay, I never actually got a notification. It looks like you may have used a quote for the tag which preserved the link with a URL tag but didn't actually trigger the code to send out a message))

Once more Amras tapped into his magic, twisting his native element to a form of light as he held three fingers together and tapped the stone shelf the bat rested upon. One by one symbols began to appear around the creature, glowing in different colors around them and casting a soft rainbow of illumination upon their dark fur.

"For the longest time I had only the abstract idea of the elements, discovering their existence one by one from tales told by the gembound that I met." Mostly his sparring partner truth be told, but his hermiting tendencies were beside the point. "In time I eventually happened upon these symbols; a personal representation of the element's essences but a useful one nonetheless."

One by one he pointed across the symbols in the circle. "You have already seen energy, light, fire, and electricity- or at least one self within the body has." he began as his talon moved toward a royal blue star shape, "But there is also an element of water, the arcane eye of the mind, the primal core of our animal nature, and the pressure element which holds sway over air."

Four symbols remained. His talon paused as it hovered over the brown circle above a line. These external elements as his mind had classified them, were the final barrier between him and complete knowledge of the elements of the cave. What would he do after reaching that goal? Of course he could continue to master them- that much was obvious- but could there be something more he could do? Some practical purpose he could utilize them for that would make life better for his fellow greater gembound?

As a few seconds passed with claw pointing to the symbol the gryphon snapped back to attention and finished up his explanation. "And finally we have the earth element, the disease or prokaryotic element, fungi, and plant."

He withdrew his talon and looked upon the small circle and the bat in its center as a whole. "It is plausible that there are more, but if so they lay beyond the knowledge of any I have encountered. Do any of these seem to call out to you?"

---

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 drank in every word that Amras was saying, his attention perfect and focused. He wanted to learn about magic too and he could feel the ones in him listening attentively as well. It would be rude to steal them this chance of learning, even if he didn't want to learn as well.

He looked around at the elements, wondering which of the ones Amras was meaning when he spoke the element names.

The yellow one there, that looks like it could be the lightning magic he showed us. And the blue one is maybe water.

Rusty snorted. Truly, a great artist.

"I think they're okay," Rusty replied, brushing off its harsh tone. He swiveled, his eyes gleaming at the symbols. He wondered what kind of magic he could use. Should he try it? But if he didn't know what it was, then what would happen? Could he damage something? Himself? Amras? What if he was light, just like Caliante? If they shared the same body, then wouldn't it make sense?

"I already know I have the fire element."

"Are you? How do you know? Can you breath fire?"

"...Not yet. But I will! I can feel it!"

The bat turned to Amras to respond to his question. "Well, I think the first one, I mean, Caliante, likes to stick with light. The other one, the mean one, they like fire. And me... He looked around, trying to imagine the magic manifesting from each one. It was hard to visualize, though, since he had never seen the magic before. He knew that he didn't feel anything for the light, nor the electricity. And the fire magic didn't seem too special to him either. He was beginning to wonder if he would ever find his magic.

"I don't know," he said, his head drooping a little bit. "I bet I can't even use magic."

Caliante
Salvation
Rusty
Crack

Speech is "Bold". Thoughts are italicized.

Tag: @Amras
Notes:

The gryphon’s brows rose in a smile as the bat spoke amongst itself again. By this point he had gotten used to the odd quirk of hearing only one end of a conversation, but he wondered how that would affect the youth as time went on. He was glad, at least, that his drawings were not terrible. The expression softened though as the bat spoke of their worries.

"While unlikely, you would not be the first I have encountered unable to use magic." he responded with solemn understanding, "In their case, as far as I could tell, their natural element had caused them no end of turmoil and thus they had cast it aside on an unconscious level."

There was a short silence as he trailed off. It had been a while since he had met up with his sparring partner, not since the spider incident. How were they faring in this darkness?

"You may also have a natural tendency toward magic, but your power is not yet developed enough to stand alongside the magic of the others? Give it time, even I was unable to use more than a single spell until I was almost fully grown."

---

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:
notes: None

The bat nodded, perking up a little at Amras mentioning another that couldn't use magic. If he wasn't the only one then there wasn't anything to be afraid of, right? But he didn't really want to be the only one not using magic if the other three decided to use it. But Rusty didn't seem to have the ability to use magic yet either. And the last voice hadn't spoken or tried anything either. Maybe whatever had happened to them before had made them unable to use magic for now.

That made sense, to him. The others were silently pondering what Amras had said. As they did, the bat couldn't stop himself from yawning. Everything that had happened, the tornado, the rescue, the confusion of the voices, and all the magic learning had made them tired. Sleepily, Salvation let himself fall back and Caliante took the lead again. She felt the exhaustion of their body as well. She looked up sleepily at Amras. "Thank you Amras, we really appreciate it."

She realized that none of them had ever said thank you for what he had done. She didn't remember much, but there were glimpses of memory. Wind, screaming, his blue feathers, and a bright flash and a crack. He had saved her from that, didn't he? "And thank you, for what you did. I don't really remember what happened, but you saved us, right?"

Caliante
Salvation
Rusty
Crack

Speech is "Bold". Thoughts are italicized.

Tag: @Amras
Notes:

Amras nodded in turn and took a few steps toward the bedding once more. "I'm glad to be able to help. Magic has been my world for as long as I've lived; it's nice to be able to share a bit of that every once in a while." He spoke with a soft voice, noting the change in the bat's tone but not giving thought to it beyond acknowledgement.

As he shifted to lay down a sheepish smile planted itself upon his face. "That was a dangerous situation you emerged into." he replied, folding his wing strategically to hide the various injuries along his back in incurred in the rescue. "It wasn't the first time I weathered the tornado and depending on how unlucky the residents of this room are it may not be my last. Knowing that my actions helped another makes it all worthwhile though."

With the conversation winding down and the topic of the rescue being raised Amras was beginning to feel fatigue creep up upon him as well. It had been a long and eventful day; he'd sleep well with it behind him. "Feel free to stay as long as you'd like. If you exit the tunnels and move directly away from the sound of the tornado you will eventually come upon a pathway to a room with water and vegetation and life- perfect to start a life of your own. I'll take you there if you want me to but for now I think we could both use some rest."

---

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 nodded, feeling the fatigue in her muscles, especially her wings. Had she really been caught in the tornado? She must have been trying to fly. Why had she been doing that? At this point, she felt like she would have had more sense then to fly into a whirlwind like that, especially after just hatching.

Amras was brave. She was grateful that he had helped and she knew that, if others got caught, they would get saved by him too. She wished she could be brave like that. At the thought, she expected the other voices to jump in, but she detected nothing but silent peacefulness from Salvation and Rusty. They were probably asleep, their minds weary. She tried to train her internal sense on where the fourth one was, but it was nothing but the same. The same dark greed and watchfulness. She wondered if they would ever sleep.

Pushing the thought to the back of her mind, she instinctively looked up to the ceiling for a place to rest. However, she wasn't sure of there would be a good place to hang. However, she spotted a small crevice that she could probably get her claws into. Grimacing against both her head and her sore wings, she fluttered up and managed to snag her claws in the open rock. She let herself relax and pulled her wings in close so that she was simply a wing-wrapped bundle.

After a moment where she let herself rock, the slow, steady movements carefully and slowly let her drift off to sleep

(not an exit)

Caliante
Salvation
Rusty
Crack

Speech is "Bold". Thoughts are italicized.

Tag: @Amras
Notes:

Seeing the young bat flutter off to a resting spot Amras lay his own head down upon the straw. Though the baubled orb still shone from the doorway he rarely had trouble getting to sleep in this home. The eternal winds above howled in a constant, like a lullaby despite their destructive force.

The gryphon's thoughts lingered in processing, even as the oncoming sleepfulness slowly drove them into a more disconnected state. He wondered how life would be for this youth he plucked from the winds above, and what natural phenomena might have produced such an odd state. He wondered about the nature of magic, how different selves would affect the stone. He wondered over the great strides in happening upon two new elements today after weeks of no progress. He wondered over the stones and what made up the stones and...

Before too long his thoughts became fully disjointed, his ears hearing but his mind almost fully asleep. Finally, an end to a long day, finally a chance to recover and prepare for the darkened days ahead. Until light should come back to the caves this would be his home.

- Exit Amras -

---

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