“Hehe, he jumps like I do!” she thought to herself. But the thought was barely had before she realized that he was quickly moving away from her. With a bellow, she leapt forward and began to follow after the excited feline. After an initial bit of awkward stumbling while learning how her legs work, Enka found that she could trot at a fairly decent speed.

Rift made the berries sound very enticing. So far she had only eaten flowers so it was hard to imagine how they would taste. But the cougar was definitely more excited about these plants than he was about the flowers so it must be, like, a hundred times better! It was hard to contain her excitement and keep at a trot instead of bounding the whole time.

While rushing forward, though, Enka realized she was getting slightly dizzy and disoriented. Without realizing it, she had instinctively tried to sense ahead at where the berries were. As magic left her body the green vines of the mossy agate horn anointing began to give off a slight grow. Unfortunately, Eridanus was rather nature filled and her senses soon become bombarded with the energy signatures of all the various plants that currently surrounded her.

Relief flowed over where when they had arrived at the berry bush. Enka tried to follow the wise words of the cougar but her head still swayed a bit. She shook her head in hopes of dispelling the swimming feeling before going after the berries alongside Rift.

Her worries were quickly dissipated as the first set of berries squished in her mouth and produced a delicious sweet taste on her tongue. “Mmmmmm!” She quickly swallowed, trying hard not to choke in her excitement, before grabbing another mouthful.

“You’re right, these are tasty!” she said around a mouth full of berries, the juices already dripping down and attempting to stain her creamy white pelt around her mouth into a soft purple hue. A tail wag followed the chewing and then swallowing motion. “You’re so smart, Rift! How did you learn so much?”

---

Speech
Thoughts

Tags: @Rift
Notes:

Rift watched Enka eating the berries happily. He was overjoyed that he had managed to make the young one so happy. It was really special to find someone that was like him, that ate the fruits of the earth and appreciated the beauty of the green. Sebastian was his brother, of course, and have a companion in him was amazing, but he was a creature of fire, not nature. He loved the forest, sure, but he was not one with the forest. He did not care for plants from tiny seeds to soaring trees the way Rift did. He could not nurture, he could only destroy. But..that wasn't a bad thing. He loved Sebastian. But this was different.

He could share his knowledge with this young one, the knowledge granted to him from experience and from his magic. He had spent time sensing each plant, discovering it from its very essence. What is could do, what it couldn't. What was safe and what was not. The child was in danger from their own nativity, as were many that hatched in the maw of mosses. He could save them.

He gave Enka a gentle smile. "I learned! I've been living her for more then half my life and I've had a lot of time to discover. I know many of the plants in the forest, what they do and if they're safe to eat and use. And I know where to find them and how to grow them. If you'd like...I could teach you?" He shuffled his paws, bashfully. "The forest is more dangerous then it looks. I could show you what kind of plants that are safe and what you should avoid?"

___________________________________________________________

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Enka
notes:

A wonderful wave of contentness enveloped the young springbok. She had only just hatched and already she had discovered a wonderful world with beautiful sights, tasty treats, and marvelous people in it. It was easy to imagine that all her days would be filled with similar experiences. The idea that the world could be dark and scary was a foreign concept. By her short about of nurture and her very nature she was naïve to the idea that the world could be a scary place. For her, at least in this moment, everything was a paradise just waiting to be explored.

Intently Enka clung to every word that Rift spoke. It was all so fascinating. He made it sound as though there was a world full of different plants to explore! It was almost more than her newly hatched brain could process. A giant world out there just waiting to be explored.

Once again, she felt a strange feeling along her stone horn that spread over her senses. This time, it was more directed. She could sense the berry busy she and Rift was eating on. With a bit of thought she found that she could focus on just that one plant so she didn’t become dizzy like last time. It was strange, feeling the numerous berries, the leaves, even down to the roots of the plant. It was almost as though she could sense it’s very core, it’s very self, it’s soul.

Then she stopped mid-chew, juice dripping down her mouth along her chin. “Wha-what? What?”

Was he being serious? This past bit of time had been wonderful. The idea that she could continue it with her new friend. That she could continue exploring and learning about the plants with him?

Her tail shook. The white flap of skin along her rump ruffled up followed by a sudden tall leap into the air. As she landed, she squealed and jumped toward the feline to try and press against him in the animal equivalent of a hug.

“Yes yes! Oh yes, please Rift! I’d love that very very very much!”

---

Speech
Thoughts

Tags: @Rift
Notes: So I guess Rift's mentorship is official now. Yay!

Rift smiled happily. He'd never ever in his life think that anyone would want to sit down and listen to him, listen to his love for plants and listen to him talk about them and nothing else. But here was the first, Enka!

His tail wiggled with excitement, a small bunch of little yellow flowers blooming all over his pelt, reacting to his happiness. He was suddenly barraged with idea after idea. Where would they start? Well, obviously, they'd started at 'what are the tasty berries?'. But there was so much more! The types of trees in the forest, what plants to avoid at all cost, what some plants did to heal, the tastiest fruits and berries and nuts and roots and where the best places to sunbath and photosynthesize (if that's what she was into) and where best to start a garden (if she wanted to). And places to avoid, like where the mushrooms had been and where the diseased horse had run through (he still wasn't done clearing up the mess).

Maybe show her his home at the tree. He assumed that was where she was staying. It was a good place, after all, big and spacious and he had all kinds of plants and mushrooms in his huge garden.

He decided that he would rather ask her, since she would be the one learning. "Oh, that's great! I'm so excited, I have so much to teach you! Where do you want to start? I could show you some common plants or teach you plant magic or show you my tree or anything else you can think of! Ask away!"


___________________________________________________________

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Enka
notes:

The little springbok could barely contain her excitement. While it was true she had not lived for long, she would have never imagined that she would find such a nice friend so soon. And not only a nice friend, but one who was incredibly smart and wanted to teach her too! Her tail swished back and forth and her rump stayed puffed up, which was all she could do to keep from springing upwards again in her merriment. Life was truly a grand thing!

And he seemed so happy to. Enka loved the fact that she made someone so happy. A wide grin had formed on her maw for how could she not be happy when her new friend was so happy?

Excitedly, she listened to his barrage of questions and suggestions. It was clear that the feline was very bit as enthusiastic about the idea as she was. But her attention slowly drifted. One dark amber eye remained focused on him, but the other eye was looking along his pelt. She couldn’t help but notice that his ruby dust colored coat had been decorated with tiny yellow flowers that appeared to come out of nowhere. It was quite a sight even if she wasn’t so young! Quite a curious matter indeed!

“Mister Rift .…” she started out slightly hesitantly. She didn’t want to upset her new friend, after all. But with the lack of manners that is perfected among children, she pushed forward. “Where did those flowers come from? Are you a plant too?” She didn’t think he was a plant. Plants don't seem to normally talk and walk and have fur like she did. But how else could she explain it? He most definitely had flowers along her fur that appeared to grow from him. Therefore, in her mind, he had to be some sort of strange plant creature.

---

Speech
Thoughts

Tags: @Rift
Notes:

Rift paused, a little surprised by Enka's title for him. "Mister? Haha, you don't have to call me Mister! Rift is just fine." Although he did feel a little touched. Nobody had ever called him something so honorific before. Nobody had any reason to do so. This was new and very exciting for him.

He was also surprised that there were apparently flowers on him. He looked back and, sure enough, there were a number of little bright flowers all over his pelt. He turned back to Enka, his whiskers twitching with amusement. "No, I'm not a plant. It's magic! I'm not very good at controlling it when I get emotional so it sometimes makes little plants sprout on my skin depending on what mood I'm in. It doesn't hurt at all and they fall off after a little while."

He then had a sudden thought. Enka loved the plants, sure, but did she also have the same gift of plant magic? He widened his eyes at the thought. He had met others who could control plants before, but none that were as passionate as him. And none that he could have the potential to teach. "What about you, Enka?" He could barely keep his voice from containing his excitement. "Can you use magic? Have you tried yet?"


___________________________________________________________

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Enka
notes:

Enka smiled. “Oh, okay then.” To her childish mind, filled with wonders and mysteries of a child’s unbounded imagination, this seemed like a perfectly reasonable answer. She had no reason to doubt Rift’s words. What reason would he have to lie? Though in truth, it was hard for her to think of a reason for anyone to lie. All of her experiences so far showed this world to be a beautiful place. The young calf couldn’t imagine it being tainted despite the cougar’s vague warning earlier.

“I didn’t really think you were a plant,” Enka added softly with a slight giggle.

But then Rift asked a serious and rather complicated question. Could she do magic? How would she even know? She didn’t think she could make flowers appear on her body like Rift could. Was there other kinds of magic? Her snout twisted slightly in deep concentration, eyes narrowing and ears wiggling. She wasn’t sure of the correct answer this time. And she really wanted to make Rift happy. She could tell he was excited about the idea. She couldn’t disappoint him, not after everything he’s done for her so far.

“I….” She paused, contemplating her response. “I’m sure I can do magic. Of course I can …. Right?” Her focus returned to Rift once again, wishing for reassurance from her friend.

Walnut black eyes attuned to the feline, trying to read his reaction and hoping what she said was okay. He had become a dear friend to her already. She just had to make him happy with her. He was so kind and he liked plants as much as she did. She just couldn’t upset him.

Without realizing it, the greens veins of the moss agate horn protruding from her head once again began to glow. By focusing so much on the cougar the young springbok had triggered her green sense to try and sense the flowers along her fur. But by such an unusual use by a creature so young and inexperienced, surrounding by so much plant information, the magic was hard to process and came back to her jumbled. Like before when following Rift through Eridanus, she became light headed. Enka swayed on her long wiry legs, shifting them slightly to remain upright. How embarrassing it would be, after all, to fall like a baby (even if she technically was one).

---

Speech
Thoughts

Tags: @Rift
Notes:

He giggled with her. It was a silly thought, but not too far off, to think he was a plant. Although he might as well be with all the growing he did and the roots that were beginning to attatch permanantly to his skin and the light absorbing he did. Yes, he was as close to a plant as he could get.

He watched as Enka began to focus and realized that she was trying to do magic. Her swaying and confusion was something that he remembered well. She was trying to use a sensing spell. Whether it was the sense for life or plants or fungus, he didn't know. There were so many. But it sparked a hope in his chest that it was possibly plant magic.

He walked forward so that he was standing next to her in case she fell over. "You're trying to use a sense spell. They can be tricky, especially when you're first using it. Breathe. Try to focus on one thing instead of opening your senses on everything."

He tried to follow his own advice and took a deep breath, opening his senses to the forest, but he was too excited to focus on anything except for Enka and he ended up giving up when he kept getting distracted. He peered down at her, wondering if she was doing any better.


___________________________________________________________

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Enka
notes: lmao green sense is cursed

The Springbok shifted again, shaking her head and straightened herself. Though freshly hatched, it hadn’t taken her long to learn how to work such thin wiry legs. Still she was reassured by the cougar moving to her side. Not just in case she was to stumble. No, she also felt reassured by his gentle encouragement. Rift made magic sound so exciting! She wanted so desperately to be able to do magic like he could.

Listening to his words she took a deep breath. The information rocking her brain slowed and began to disappear. Enka was beginning to understand how this magic thing worked; at least where it concerned this one spell. Slowly the mental gave was opened and she once again delve into the array of information from the various plant life. This time it was easier to keep the door only partially opened, focusing on only the plants that were nearest to her.

Perhaps it was from the trial and error of before. Perhaps it was Rift’s gentle encouragement. Whatever the cause, Enka found that she was able to sense the tiny plants on the cougar’s back. They felt different than those on the bush she had just eaten from. Those were sweet and nearly tickled the back of her brain. These seemed to only give partial information, as though a fog was covering part of it. She didn’t realize it but this was due to the complex nature of being plant and animal, these plants being a strange part of Rift but in a new form. To her it was like a sweet-smelling fog, pleasant but still mysterious and secretive.

A grin grew on the antelope’s maw as she opened her eyes and turned towards Rift. “A sensing spell? Does that mean I can do magic like you can? Does that mean that flowers will start blooming on me too?” Her tail flicked happily as once again excitement bubbled over her.

---

Speech
Thoughts

Tags: @Rift
Notes:

Rift grew slightly anxious when she closed her eyes. There were so many sensing spells, it was only a small chance that she would have the plant magic he was hatched with. She could be sensing him, an animal, or the fungus, or, he thought with a twinge of disgust, the bacteria in the air. He didn't know how he would react if he found out that was what she practiced. Could he turn her away? He had promised to teach her.

But she seemed so enthusiastic about plant magic that he couldn't help himself. Even if she carried disease, he would teach her. And he would teach her to use her disease well. Perhaps there were diseases that were good and helped. Yes, he would teach her to help. But that was, of course, assuming the worst.

He grew excited again when she raised her head and opened her eyes. "It depends on what you sensed. Did it work this time? What could you feel?"

@Enka