He turned towards the judges and sat in front of his tree, smiling happily. "I present to you the magic of the forest, of life and of the trees. Of the wonder around us, unnoticed and unseen. It is tall and it is mighty, it is glowing and it is loving. It is here always and it is beautiful."

He then raised his head, intending on releasing a gentle spray of water, but the magic did not come. So, instead, he tried to pretend that he hadn't meant anything of it and instead raised his tail high and smiled lightly.

Behind him, the great oak glowed with the fungus covering its trunk, the roots and branches reaching far, the leaves gently waving in a hidden wind, rustling peacefully. Rift sat for a moment, letting himself revel in his finished act before standing and giving a small bow to the judges. He turned and padded off, leaping over the roots and brushing his fur affectionately against the bark. He left the area, completely forgetting that he was just leaving a glowing tree in the middle of the ring.

But, had he remembered, what would he have done about it?


___________________________________________________________

"And if it ever starts to feel sad little fang"
Remember that your gifts are your gain.

tags: @Zevruu
notes: here

Zevruu had no idea why he was here. The last time, it hadn't gone according to plan and he missed one of his spells. Unfortunately, that one spell failing was enough to make him run off, crying.

Not his proudest moment.

But now, things were different. He was over twice as old as he was then, and had had a lot more practice. He actually knew what he was going to do this time, and...while he hadn't exactly practiced it, he at least knew all 3 spells he was going to do. He just had to hope neither of them failed.

He sat through first an alligator, doing really only one spell that seemed to work - something he had to admit definitely impressed him - followed by a young black cat, who didn't seem to have much better luck. So far, the competition seemed low. Not that he was really here to win. He'd seen Kin-kin among the crowd. It'd likely be near impossible to beat the champion, as deemed by the last time this happened.

Lastly, right before his turn, the cat seemed to have more luck. First, he managed to grow a full tree right there. Zevruu was definitely impressed. He couldn't even imagine how much focus that must have taken, and this cat didn't seem to even be full grown. Faintly, he felt a tinge of bitterness, but pushed the foreign feeling aside.

Next, he made the trunk of the tree glow by using glowing mushrooms. After some words were said, nothing more happened. He figured either he meant to leave it at that, or his spell simply hadn't worked. He didn't give much thought to either one, as the cat being done meant it was his turn.

He stood and padded into the ring, ignoring the tree. Hopefully it shouldn't get in his way. Maybe he could even use it. He faced the judges and crowd, suddenly distinctly aware of what had happened last time he did this. He shut his eyes tight, banishing the thoughts from mind. He was older now. He knew what he was doing.

With that, he began to focus on his first spell. His eyes closed, he focused on the gem on his shoulder, hoping to draw the magic out. It didn't seem to take much work, as he soon felt the magic flow through him and out, manifesting itself in a shadow. With some focus that made him gain a bit of a headache - definitely nothing good this early in his show, but he couldn't focus on that - he was able to manipulate it, making it run around a bit, showing itself off. His first spell worked, and he was grateful for that. Now the other two just had to work as well.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

Zevruu wasn't sure his next spell would work. The last time he tried, it had taken 6 attempts before he finally succeeded. So it was probably rather likely that it wouldn't work, something he felt disappointed at. It would have made a nice display with what he had planned for his final spell.

But still, it could work. He wouldn't know until he actually tried it. So he closed his eyes once more, the shadow disappearing, and focused on bringing his magic out. He willed for it to work. It had to work.

But alas, it ended up not working. With a sigh, he accepted this. He hadn't really been expecting for it to work, after all. It's just...something that would have been nice if it did work. He began to prepare himself for his last spell.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'

Zevruu was now unsure what to do for his last spell. There were a couple of different ways he could take this. He knew of a spell that nearly combined the last two spells he had been planning on doing. He presumed it would have been better to do his attempt in the two different spells, mainly just to enhance that feeling (and also because he didn't know what he'd do for the last one), but he supposed this would have to do. He just had to hope that it would work. Perhaps it was better this way anyway. He hadn't exactly figured out how to bring that darkness back once it was there. At least this way he wouldn't ruin the shows of those after him.

So he began to prepare himself for a spell he'd only ever seen, not actually used himself.

It wasn't long before the dense clouds came, rolling off his fur and shrouding him in darkness. From amidst the thick fog, his eyes glowed a bright yellow, completely erasing the slightest tint of blue from his using the spell he was going to do originally so many times.

With that, his show was over. As the thick clouds dissipated, he walked back to his spot, letting his eyes return to their normal amber and prepared to watch whoever was to go next.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts' | @Albeon

Although he has memories entering last contest they were honestly hazy in Albeon's mind, all he recalls is he didn't win last time. But it's perhaps best he can't remember well, to be frank, this odd memory loss thing has been beneficial for Albeon, like many weights lifting off his corvid form, at last, the more he forgets; it'll be better not to dwell on it.

It seems he had dwelled enough anyway for it was already his turn when he snapped out of it. Ah damn, Albeon will have to go all out then if he doesn't have a faintest now what happened until now; although there is a vast tree which was never there before which does show he may have some challenge already.

Albeon wastes no time in flying over into the ring his scarf fluttering behind his neck; it was his stage now as his unblinking eyes were all on his judges and spectators ready to display to them what he is capable of doing.

And now it is time for his first Spell, and with a Spell, in mind, he already got a sensation of his Magick calling out and so he was confident this would work if his Magick flared the moment anything Magick related came into his head. He kept his wings folded, waiting in anticipation for the moment his Spell to happen, for it to surface forth.

This is it, gotta do it now!

Albeon sensed his Spell was on the verge of emerging and so quickly he spread both of his wings out so quickly and in the same moment his Spell burst from his wings. His spread wings flared with bright, wispy gold which made him appear to be a phoenix instead of a corvid his gold eyes and golden scarf assisted in displaying his now golden wings their beauty.

Tags:
Side Notes: N/A

"Hey Yours Truly Albeon Speaking."

And that's a good thing...
It means there's hope and potential in one's Future.

Heh... Going well, and now his warm-up was complete it was now time for the bigger stuff, time to display his power. These gold wing sure will help in making him appear to be a potent symbol here too. Of course, let's not get too arrogant, Albeon becomes an absolute pain when he does.

Nevertheless, time for phase two!

As little particles of gold scattered around his golden wings which was still going strong, he turns his head up to the ceiling of Polaris, craning it at an angle so his Gem sharp ends were pointing at the ceiling too and he gets ready for his next Spell.

His Magick channels with ease, but unfortunately Albeon got distracted for a brief second for craning his neck this much was already making it ache like hell, so his Magick weakened a little from temporary losing his focus. Albeon needs to use this Spell now, something is better than nothing and looking at the ceiling like he broke his neck out of nowhere.

Many particles containing powerful energy gathered around the sharp ends of his Gem, and Albeon at last released it and a bright beam of destructive power fired from his Gem, aiming at the ceiling some of the light from the Pulsar coming from his Gem made his body shine pure white, alongside his golden wings. Albeon used Pulsar a little too late from his breaking concentration so when the laser reached its max length, chunks of energy split away from the main body of power and fell back down to the ground like they were meteorites. The beam, in the end, didn't hit the ceiling, not that Albeon was expecting it to impact the roof even if it did work out correctly it is far too high up for such a feat.

Tags:
Side Notes: N/A

"Hey Yours Truly Albeon Speaking."

And that's a good thing...
It means there's hope and potential in one's Future.

Albeon's Pulsar thinned out until it dissipated and now there was nothing left, and so he craned his neck back to normal, glad to do so for it hurts like hell now. Having his sight to his spectators again to his relief none of the energy that split away from his beam only hit the ground, it didn't harm anybody which is good. And so now it is time for his last feat!

...Now that he considers things Albeon, in fact, doesn't have the slightest clue what his third one shall be. Crap.

Out of impulse, he goes with whichever Spell first comes to his mind, so he isn't standing there like an idiot, even if his spread-out wings are still shining with gold.

Telekinesis is what comes to mind, so he goes with said Spell. And so, he concentrates again focusing more on his mind and keeping his cool.

What was within Albeon's sight was a few boulders relatively bigger than him in size so since with him winging this Spell he chooses these as his targets for Telekinesis his Gem glowing with a faint violet although the gold was still more prominent. Said faint purple aura was now around these boulders as they levitated off from the ground and Albeon with his mind brought them much closer to him, towering over his much smaller form. He makes them hover in front of his face, and soon he made them float around him in sort type of in sync rhythm, making them spin around his golden form still there and some more techniques with the boulders movements as they danced around him.

The golden wings colour is fading away from Albeon's real wings which shows that it was his cue to stop.

Before the gold completely vanished away, he brought the boulders in front of himself and hovered them all back down to their original spots before he picked them up with his Spell and released them. When the gold was just about gone, no longer displaying Albeon like he was some higher being, he folded his wings back and he now once again maintained his appearance of a regular raven the only gold now was his eyes and his scarf.

It's over. And damn Albeon did well there, far better than what he was before and they all saw it, he wonders if anyone watching here was someone who he perhaps didn't like see his power? He was tempted to say something here and now but he chose not to, sure he could humble-brag it's his preferred way to brag now, but Albeon isn't the last to go. There are many more participants after him including the previous contest champion so any bragging may make him appear to be an idiot if someone next does far better so he casually, with some pride in his movement flies off the ring, allowing the next contestant to do their feats.

Tags: @Gypsy
Side Notes: N/A

"Hey Yours Truly Albeon Speaking."

And that's a good thing...
It means there's hope and potential in one's Future.

Uh oh… It was her turn. Her heart beat frantically in her feathery chest and she took little wooden steps into the performance ring. She barely knew what she was doing; she was so nervous! She hadn’t been able to see much of what had occurred in other people’s performances because the crowd around her had all been too tall. She didn’t think she could have handled seeing everyone before her anyway. She had signed up because she’d been inspired by the demi-god Kin-Kin who had won the last Magicka competition. The tiny avian eyed the wolf now, waiting for her turn, as she stiffly walked forward. Oh, why was she so nervous? She had been so excited about this event too, when she had talked to Kin-Kin about it. And now, she felt like jelly all over. ‘Okay… deep breaths…’ She tried to calm herself down, but it did nothing to steady her rapidly thrumming heart. She just hoped she wouldn’t make a fool of herself-- “Owwww!” Being too preoccupied with the thoughts racing through her head, Gypsy hadn’t noticed the large tree in the middle of the ring and had walked straight into it. She landed on her backside and fluffed up her feathers in misery. Oh dear, oh dear… What a terrible start. She looked up at the towering tree with wide eyes behind her red mask. W-Who had put that there?! Was that even allowed?! Shaking her head, she hopped back up onto her talons. Maybe she could use the glowing tree and mushrooms somehow. Gypsy considered it for a moment. She only knew how to make things glow and create rainbows; she was still a beginner. Perhaps she could create a simple, but spectacular show. Encouraged by her own thoughts, she tried to gather in the warm feelings of power from the gem on her face. She narrowed her eyes and focused on the glowing mushrooms that illuminated the entire length of the tree. Somehow, she felt calmer as the magick burst forth. The glow around the tree shimmered a wide array of colours like a beautiful rainbow. Gypsy chirped in delight at her first success. "Gypsy speaks" 'Gypsy thinks'

So far so good! She felt more confident with her initial success. The tiny avian hopped around the tree, admiring the way its mushrooms glowed multiple hues at once. How pretty! But she couldn’t be too ecstatic yet. She still had more work to do. Gypsy called up on the magick within her gemstone once more. Concentrating upon the multi-coloured glowing mushrooms, she willed them to fire off individual, focused laser beams this time. And there! Voilà! She danced around the tree again in joy as the rainbow faded from the mushrooms and shot off beams of golden laser light instead. The tree now looked like a bizarre porcupine with little golden spikes. Gypsy looked towards Kin-Kin and grinned, throwing the demi-god a wink. Call it beginner’s luck, but this was just grand! "Gypsy speaks" 'Gypsy thinks'

Excitement raged within the little avian, but she tried to reign it in. There was still one more act to go and she needed to focus. She pondered how to approach this for a moment, and then remembered the time she had accidentally burped out a rainbow in front of Kin-Kin. Well, that had been an accident, but it was a perfectly good way to show that she could also create a full rainbow from the subtle strands of light in the air. Again, the same simple spell, but used in a creative way to show technique. Taking a deep breath, she called forth her magick one final time. She opened her beak and willed the power outwards from within. Perhaps she was getting fatigued from all the excitement and magick - the power flickered alarmingly in her grasp. But she held on tight and managed to bring the spell to fruition. A little rainbow with all its colours flowed out from her open beak, swinging in the air gently before dissipating. “WOOHOOOOOO! I DID IT! I DID IIIITTTT~!” Gypsy couldn’t hold it in anymore. The youngster was too excited at her success. She hopped around and danced on the spot before remembering she was still in the ring. “Uhhh… I mean…” She turned to the audience and cleared her throat in embarrassment. “Th-Thanks for watching!” She felt heat creep up her face. As she ran out of the ring back into the crowd, she couldn’t stop beaming. Even though she hadn’t watched anyone else’s show, she realised hers had probably been the most simple. Someone had even grown a tree, for beak’s sake! Still, she had managed to have great success, and was feeling like she was on top of the world! As she snuggled into the front row of the audience (now she felt she could watch properly), Gypsy flashed Kin-Kin one final grin and mouthed a silent, “Good luck!” She couldn’t wait to see what the wolf would do. But first, there were other contestants who still had to have their turns before her. "Gypsy speaks" 'Gypsy thinks'

@Kera