OOC: This is mostly just a selfie thread in which Tuck uses Magic to make himself a little satchel to carry small things in, like pebbles and seeds. I made it AW in case anyone wanted to pop in, but probably not much is gonna happen since Tuck's gonna be too busy building this thing.

It had taken Tuck a very long time to roll his precious kunzite orb all the way from Tunnel K back to Eridanus, especially since he’d had to stop and scratch himself every few seconds because of the spreading poison ivy rash he’d given himself. Damned rat leader… Still, he couldn’t help but feel proud of himself for taking down the leader all by himself! But, anyways… having to have spent days trudging along rolling the orb across the ground had been very taxing. He would have just picked it up and held onto it and hopped his way back, but his thumbs were not opposable and the orb was a bit too slippery to properly hold with his claw-like hands. It was easier with fruit or bark or a seed because they weren’t smooth and slippery — but a perfectly round gem orb didn’t have the right texture for him to be able to hold onto it.

All this trouble had given him an idea, so that when he returned to Eridanus, and very carefully and sneakily stashed his orb away, he decided then to take some time to create a little satchel for himself. It couldn’t be very big, as he himself was only four and a half inches tall, and even fully grown he’d only be five inches. Still, if he came across any shiny pebbles or seeds that he wanted to bring back with him and grow, he needed something to carry them in. He had to sit and think for a good long time about how to go about making himself a bag. He figured the best thing would be to make the actual bag part, and then create two straps on either side to put his arms through so that the bag would be resting on his back and he would have his hands and legs free to pick things up or to climb or move freely.

After thinking about it some more, he spent a good hour or perhaps more collecting all the things he would need: bark, twigs, the long stems of flowers, vines, etc. Then he sat down with all of these things around him and began to work.

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The first thing Tuck needed to do was to create the straps that would go over his shoulders when he was carrying the bag. He called out with his Magic and lifted a small vine into the air, which he’d already bit into the right size with his teeth. When it was floating in front of him, he twisted it into a loop shape and held it like that mentally as he grabbed a smooth piece of bark with both hands and lifted it to the looped vine to check the sizes. They matched. He put the bark back down, still holding the vine in the air, and reached to the side of him, to the tree he’d prepared for this activity. He’d drilled a hole into it with his teeth and claws until it dripped sap, which he was going to use as glue. He rubbed some sap onto one of his hands and then rubbed it onto one of the sides of the bark, to make it sticky. Then he picked the bark back up and pressed the inside of the looped vine against the sticky side of the bark to create the first strap for the bag.

Satisfied, he let his Magic drop and studied his work carefully. He’d have to make another strap on the right side of the piece of bark to have both straps, as well as the first part of the actual bag, the part that would press against his back when he put it on.

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After studying his materials again, Tuck picked out the next section of vine that he wanted to use as the other strap of his bag. He attempted to access his Magic to pick it up and bend it into the right shape, but it failed him. Honestly, the marmoset had been quite lucky with his Magic so far, and hadn’t really suffered many failures when he cast spells, so this came as a bit of a shock to him. Perhaps he had tired himself out? But he’d only cast one spell today! Hmm… Well, alright. He’d give his Magic a break, he supposed, and would work on something that didn’t require Magic for a while…

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Tuck decided he would put the bottom of the bag in place. He took another piece of bark — this one smaller than the back piece, and rubbed one side with resin, near the edge of the piece. Then he very carefully picked up the bark that had his shoulder strap on it and pressed the bottom edge of it against the other piece of bark, the part that had sap on it, to make the two pieces stick together. He pressed his tiny hands against the back piece so that it would stick firmly to the bottom piece. After a few minutes, he let go and tested its strength. It held, but when he was all done, he’d have to let the sap dry and harden to make sure the bag didn’t fall apart.

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Tukluk was satisfied with his work for all of two seconds until he realized his mistake. Now that he’d glued the bottom piece to the back piece, he wouldn’t be able to get the second shoulder strap to loop around the back piece! Uggghhh! With a frustrated groan, he carefully pulled apart the pieces he’d just glued together, and they came apart slowly, the sap that was holding them together complaining and being difficult. How stupid could he be? There was a reason he needed to do the shoulder straps first! Gods, he was stupid! Oh well. He set the now sticky bottom piece down and called out for his Magic again, reaching for the vine he’d tried to get before.

To his shock and horror, he felt a sharp mental pain that he also felt in his collarbone — where his Gem was — and the vine exploded! He let out a screech, and let his Magic drop as fast he could, hyperventilating as he tried to calm down. That had never happened before! What in the Origin Cave had just happened to his Magic?! He took a few shaky breaths and tried to calm himself down… He couldn’t let that stop him. He needed to make this bag. He needed to try again.

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Taking a few more deep breaths to calm down, Tuck was determined to try again. He was sure this little bag of his would come in handy, in case he ever came across something like his kunzite orb again! And this time the plant seemed to want to do what he told it to — or try to, anyways. He got it up in the air, and bent halfway into the shape he needed it to be in before his Magic gave up on him. “Ugh!” he said out loud, becoming more and more frustrated. “Come on, plant! Work with me, here!” This would never do! He’d have to try again! … Again!

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So, once again, Tuck tried to bend the vine into a full loop shape. And once again, it decided to only halfway work. He mentally dropped the vine back onto the ground with a frustrated groan, letting his Magic go again. Angrily, he picked up a piece of stray bark and threw it, and then he fell over backwards onto his back and basically had a tantrum. He was only a cycle old, after all. He couldn’t really be expected to take things in stride, especially when they kept refusing to work over and over again. “Why isn’t it working?” he yelled into the air. “I just wanna make a stupid bag!”

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Tuck had never used his Magic so much in one go, and even though he still had plenty of energy left to try again, he was starting to wonder how many times he could cast spells before he ran out of Magic. Was that even possible? Could a Gembound just… run out of Magic? What if it never came back again? … No, that wouldn’t happen. He’d always felt his Magic automatically replenish itself after he’d used a spell. But then again, he’d never had so many failures and barely-working spell casts before. Was this just gonna happen every single time now? How was he supposed to be the greatest Mage in the world if his Magic wanted to act up and be annoying every time he wanted to cast it?

The marmoset sat up again with a sigh. Maybe making this bag had been a mistake… But all he needed was one more strap and then he could do the rest himself without his Magic! And if he had opposable thumbs, he wouldn’t even need his Magic at all for this! He looked down at his useless hands and sighed again. This was dumb. Maybe he should just give up. What was he gonna put in his tiny bag, anyways?

Dejectedly, he stared down at all the plant items he had gathered. If he gave up now, though, then the pre-work he’d put in would just be for nothing…

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Without really expecting much to happen, Tuck tried one more time to pick up a vine and bend it into a loop shape —

— and it WORKED?!

Not much effort even seemed to have been needed for it to lift itself into the air and bend into a perfect loop, and Tuck was so excited by the sudden change that he nearly dropped it. Quickly, though, his mind focused once more, with renewed energy, and he turned and dipped his finger into some tree sap. Then he rubbed the tree sap on the other side of the back piece of bark and held it up to the vine, which was still behaving and bending itself into a loop.

He pressed the vine carefully against the bark and held it in place for some time until the sticky sap glued the two pieces together and he could let the spell drop. There! Now he had the back piece of his bag all sorted out! Now he’d have to leave it alone to let the sap dry properly. In the meantime, now he could go and glue the back and bottom pieces back together again, now that he had both shoulder straps attached.

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Okay, so… now he was so excited that he sort of forgot what he needed to do next… Oh right! Glue the back and the bottom together again! With a grin, he rubbed his finger in some tree sap again and then rubbed it on the bottom piece in the same place he’d done so before. Then he once again pressed the back piece against the sap and held it there for a few minutes, pressing hard but not too hard. Eventually, he let up and tested the strength of the hold. It was good, but he knew he’d need to leave the two pieces alone for a while to let the sap harden. Until then, he wouldn’t really be able to do much else with the project because he didn’t want to risk undoing the work of the sap before it hardened. Hmm…

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