It was with an intent trot that Wilder left her home that day, having spent some time thinking and mapping out some plans, turning over the white and red cape she'd received from Naskital over and over until she'd come to a decision. The memory of Hume still lingered at the forefront of her brain, whenever a moment grew quiet or alone she found her mind drifting to the wisteria trees, to the gentle pink-gold light, the cosmic glittering of wings. And then she would wake up in the caves again, dark and dim and closed away.

She wanted to, at least, carry a little bit of that with her. And she had an idea how.

Setting off into Andromeda, she began a familiar search through nooks and crannies, into the cracks of the stone walls, wedges between boulders, anywhere where stones and crystals might have found themselves lost.

Eventually, she found, nestled in some pebbles, a nice, beautifully bright carnelian. That would do nicely. She slipped it into the pouch around her neck and continued forward.

The search for the second gemstone she needed wasn't going as smoothly. Andromeda had no shortage of gemstones to choose from, but most came in varying shades of pink and purple and blue and other cool, ethereal colors. Nothing as bright and vivid and warm as the carnelian she'd found. Still, she was in no rush, padding quietly, peacefully, through the dimly lit cave she called home.

Eventually, her patience gifted her with a lovely yellow citrine, not too different in color and shade to the lamps above head. With the two crystals she needed, she turned to head back to the house she had created.

She spent a lot of her time collecting things, things of interest, things of beauty. She needed a purple stone as well, but Andromeda was so filled with purple that she needn't go searching for another - she had one already that would suffice, as well as a couple of little bowls that would catch the ingredients she'd collected.

Ducking inside the crystalline hut, she snatched up the rest of what she needed and pulled out the entrance, where she settled down next to the pool of the oasis. Comfortable, she began the work of breaking down the three gems she had. She had a rough diamond that was effective for this task and after a good amount of work and a lot of force for a small cat, she had three piles of dust - one yellow, one orange, one purple.

First, she pulled over a little crystalline vial that she'd been holding onto for a very long time. Within was a gold liquid that was softly glowing. Good to know that the magic wouldn't fade, probably just as long as she was alive. It had been stored away in her original home in Polaris, where she'd retrieved it after moving here, from when she'd first learned to make these dyes. It had never been used, but now was as good a time as ever.

She carefully pawed the yellow and orange dust into one of her bowls dipping a paw into the water of the pool to get a few droplets in as well, just to make it more of a paste then just simply a powder. Using a claw, she carefully stirred the mixture until it was mostly dissolved and mixed, before uncapping the glowing dye and pouring that in as well.

As she stirred, the effect changed. The colors mixed together, the magic seeped into the crystal paste until it had all mixed together into a beautiful, vivid citrine color, glowing ever so faintly. She raised her claw with some of the dye still dripping slowly off, admiring the almost iridescent color she'd created. With a smile, she moved the bowl aside.

- +

With the new dye created, she then carefully scooped the purple dust and added it to the bowl of dye as well. It didn't quite mix properly, looking quite strange, bits of bright purple floating among the swirling golden brilliance she'd created already.

She placed her paws on both sides of the bowl and dipped her head in close until her nose was almost touching. She focused, feeling magic beginning to stir throughout her body, and then the spell cast - not in the usual way, trying to open a door to the future, for visions and hints and divination, but letting the essence of the spell flow through her paws and into the bowl, to blend the colors into one.

As she watched, the purple color began to shift and swirl, spiraling into the golden color and beginning to softly glow as well. The two merged and blended, but still staying just a little bit apart. An iridescent film came over the entire dye until the magic had fully immersed into the color and she was left with a beautiful, indescribable color, like the cosmic brilliance she witnessed once, and for a moment she remembered, vividly, the color of the wishing stone. This had been its color, almost exactly. A soft smile came to her face as she took a moment to just watch as the dye seemed to shift, admiring what she'd just created.

- +

It was still missing something, though. She carefully stirred her claw through the thick liquid, watching the almost crystalline facets of it shift and shimmer. She frowned. It was pretty, yes, but it wasn't perfect. Not the way she wanted. It was less Hume, more wishing stone. And echo.

She stood up and turned, walking along the edge of the pool, trying to think of the answer. It was right there in front of her but man...she just couldn't land on it. The wings even shimmered briefly behind her, as if hinting to her to understand, but she barely even noticed.

At one point, she stopped and turned, looking down into the water for ideas and her eyes were drawn to the stone on her cheek. The old scar next to it, from taloned claws on an alien world. And the shimmer just beneath the surface of the rhodonite. Just like the wings she now spread at her will.

...oh!

Just as she thought of it, the wings shimmered brightly behind her, a confirmation that she'd remembered the right bit that she needed. Relief, and internally knocking herself for not thinking of it sooner, she turned and raced back to the bowl, pulling it close and pushing the magic of Hume into the existing dye. The wings flickered and vanished as their magical source was siphoned away, but in their place, the dye began to shimmer in that exact way she wanted, little golden sparks gently floating from the surface.

With a loud purr, she stood up and pulled another bowl over. She gently picked it up with her teeth and, to the best of her ability, scooped up some of the water from the pool. She dipped a paw in the dye and mixed it into the water, adding just enough that the water took on a faint pink-gold shimmering hue. Once it was ready, she took the cloak that had been gifted to her, scrunched it up, and dipped it in the bowl, moving it and mixing it so that the water saturated the entire thing.

- +

Once it was thoroughly wet and absorbed enough of the dye to just stain the white to a shimmering off-white, she laid it out flat and let heat pool in her belly until a glow emanated from her eyes. Using herself almost like a warm fire or an iron, she laid out over the cape, getting, at the very least, the velvet interior dry, feeling the fur on her belly getting some of the water on it, until the heat dried it off.

Once she determined it was dry enough to take a more saturated layer of paint, she turned the cape over so that the velvet interior was facing up, dipped her paw in the bowl of dye, and carefully began to spread it out across.

She did a couple of layers, giving the velvet time to soak up the color, until she was left with an off-white sparkling cape lined with iridescent pink and gold, cosmic sparkles slowly drifting from the inside.

She took a step back to admire her work and purred with approval. She'd let it dry here for now and put it on later - perhaps she'd find some feathers, too, that she could attach to it. But for now, it was enough. And it was beautiful.

Turning back to the pool, she made to wash her paws and the vial and bowls she'd used to make the dye, and settle back in for the night.

*exit