The white fawn wasn't much to look at: small, gangly, with spindly legs that trembled as he walked, and fur tousled out of place with no mother doe to groom it down. Granted, he was a pure white, the diamond at his throat glittering, but he most certainly did not look powerful. The large, dark reptile leading him, however, might.

Reseda had promised to teach him magic, in return for his aid later on: she wanted the caves, and everything in them. She wanted respect, and she wanted fear. The problem was, she lacked skill in interaction, with manipulation, and might tend to simply inspire distate or outright hatred. She was, however, smart enough to know that gathering allies was a good first step--and Pride had been among these. It was his own task--one he had offered--to do her social manipulation for her, once he was skilled enough to do so. Where his loyalties would lie remained to be seen--but that was far in the future. For now, her side of the bargain was to be fulfilled.

Polaris, as she had explained, would be rife with magic. It might make practicing a little more chaotic, but it was energizing, at the very least, and here--at the base of the vast blue outcrop of crystal called the Spire--Pride could feel it. They weren't too close to it; somehow, even so young, he could sense that this would be dangerous. But it was close enough that the thrum and crackle had him excited about something for the first time in his young life. Not ecstatic, perhaps, but brightly interested, his heart swifter in its warm beat.

"My magic," he said after a time, voice thoughtful and young, barely-learned words carefully pronounced to perfection, "is this."

He turned, his melodic little voice falling silent as he focused. He could feel a strange, faint warmth at the gem at his neck, but he ignored this, concentrating on the loose stone lining the cave floor. A sudden rush and thump, and the rocks clattered lightly out of the way. It didn't have the raw power that his very first cast had shown, but it worked, and he looked to Reseda.

Hopefully, she could work with this, and aid him in refining it.

@Reseda

Reseda stopped at the sight of the Spire. Long ago she had entered his room to lay her eyes upon the great magic crystal and her heart had leaped. She saw the shadows again, crawling through the magic, things she could not understand and will never understand.

As Pride stopped to show it's magic, she forced herself to turn away from the magic power and watched it perform a very familiar spell. The one she had learned to do at the beginning of her life as well. That would make training it much easier then she had predicted. "Ah! This is a good thing. That is the magic I was born with as well. Your training will be easier with this and you will become strong quickly."

She set her sights on a rock in front of her. "Since you have demonstrated knowledge of this spell, we shall start with that. You are pushing the world with Dispel. The world will push back. But you are stronger then the world and you will clear a path, whether you are meant to or not." She sent out the magic and all the pebbles in her path were thrown to the side, as well as the stone she had set her sights on. It spelt from the force and was sent tumbling away.

She turned to Pride. "Be confident and proud, you magic will go where you wish."


"Living with myself."
Nothing but lies.


tags: @Pride
notes:

The fawn turned, watching Reseda intently. He listened to her words, watched closely as she summoned her own power, and observed the results of her spell.

It seemed the same as his, yes--and he found himself curious at something she had said, something that his young but keen mind clicked onto at once. This is the magic I was born with, she had said. "Not all... born with, this? This magic?" Pride asked, careful to correctly phrase himself.

If not all were born with this magic, then that meant they were born with another. And what other magic was there? He had seen the darkness Reseda had summoned overhead in Canis, the black hole that had snatched bones from the grounds and consumed them into nothingness--but he had assumed it was another twist, another shape, of the same magic. "Are there... Other, magic? Where does it--come from." He paused, dissatisfied with this phrasing, and did his best to make it sound better. "What is its... source."

The world will push back. For a moment he thought this was a statement on magic itself--but then wondered if perhaps Reseda was again speaking of the caves and her plans. Did she mean, instead, that others would fight his magic? He was unsure, but he did believe that shoving others was liable to aggravate them into shoving back, yes. But--the transfer of energy, then... if he kicked the stone, did the impact not also jar his legs? Perhaps magic was something like that, and he had to take it into account..?

Curious, thinking, he turned and pondered the loose rock for a moment. He could feel the buzz of the Spire, and his mind ran over the possibilities.

If magic has resistance, if it pushes back and leads to failure, how can I prevent that? His actual mental words were not quite so complex, but the general thoughts were there, and after a moment, he came to a conclusion. I must, as she says, clear a path. I must create the action that will create the reaction that I want.

Silver-grey eyes slipped shut, and he trembled briefly with the surge of power and concentration. He sent the power not out in a line, but instead focused on creating a sudden, empty space all around him, with such violent power that all the stones all around went flying, slamming over the rock with a loud series of clatters.

He then opened his eyes again, and looked to Reseda. "That is a good lesson. I understand it." She was true to her word, in this; she was skilled with magic. This was good to know, and Pride knew then, with some sense of contented satisfaction, or perhaps relief, that he had not made a mistake in agreeing to let her try to teach him.

@Reseda

Reseda caught what pride was trying to say and thought back to all the magick she had seen. "Yes, everyone is born attuned to some magic. We were born to the magic of energy. Others, however, may have different ones. There is fire and plant and electricity, the magic of rot, the magic of air, of animal and of arcane. There are others that I have not yet seen or discovered but I am sure they exist. While your natural spells will always be easier to learn, you may yet be able to practice other areas of magic as well. Like so..." She looked over Pride's shoulder and focused on a point a few get behind it. There was just a flash of pink in her gen as she sent her magic to the point. Where the magic touched, her voice whispered, "This is a spell of arcane."

She cut off the magic and was about to continue when, all of a sudden, there was a huge force that his her chest. She was flung backwards, along with a ring around Pride, thrown into the air by its magic. She smashed hard into the ground and immediately rolled over. She had done such things to herself enough times with her own magic that she was able to get to her feet relatively easy.

She looked to see the damage and realized that's Pride had gone beyond dispel. "Ah! Very good. While your first spell only affects the world in front of you, this one affects everything around. You seem to have a good grip of it already. With more practice, you will become stronger and nothing will stand in this spell's way."


"Living with myself."
Nothing but lies.


tags: @Pride
notes:

Pride listened, intently, head lightly tilting.

Arcane. Electricity. Fire. Air. Plant. Rot. Animal?

"There is a magic that can... control us?" he asked, his phrasing still slow and simple. "What do the others--do? Can you teach of. What they do?" He was not rude, nor demanding; simply curious.

As he asked he again opened his eyes, glancing over to realize that he'd actually thrown Reseda back some distance. He hadn't noticed, and he blinked. "Did not intend--that hit. I am--" he paused, searching briefly for the word. "Sorry." Yes, that was it.

He turned, more careful this time, and aimed to fire off another burst of magic--forward only. He remembered, now, to create the lack at the far end, so that his magicka would power a rush of pure energy to fill the space, throwing aside anything in its way.

Various pebbles scattered off to either side--it was far less potent than before.

He would need to work at this.

@Reseda

Reseda flicked a claw. "It is no big deal. You are learning your powers is all." It didn't really matter, no, especially with Pride being so young. If it were bigger, though, and more advanced at magic, with more power at its side, then it would have been a problem.

She returned to the question it had asked just as she had been hit. "No, there is no magic that can give complete control, that I know. What I know of the animal magic is that it deals in more mundane magics. Personal things. Magic of senses and the inner power of animals. For example," She sent her magic along her skin, the gem on her eye glistening red for a moment before she began to fade into the background. It wasn't a perfect cast and, as she moved, it was moderately easy to see her moving. "Blending into the world by changing skin. That is animal magic." She then released the spell and became completely visible again.

"I can teach you some magics. I have minimal knowledge of some elements beyond energy, but mostly of arcane. The spell that connected our minds was of the arcane element. It is those two that I can give you the best education." Reseda, all of a sudden, felt empty, abandoned by magic. Despite all of her power, she could only admit to having a couple of elements under her control. She needed more. She needed to learn them all. Yes, all the elements would be hers to command. This ambition gripped her so tightly that it almost physically hurt. She would learn alongside Pride. And when the Sins come together, when she is apart of the most powerful group in the caves, she would take the knowledge by force.


"Living with myself."
Nothing but lies.


tags: @Pride
notes:

The fawn listened intently, unmoving the entire time Reseda spoke. He did his best to understand each and every word, to grasp their meaning and to commit the entirety of it to memory. The mind-link--that would be useful. Yes--I will need that, he decided to himself.

He turned, facing his body away from Reseda again. He decided to challenge himself: to focus upon a distant point at the rock, to create his little vacuum of energy there and direct its line, its path of what rushed to fill it, to come from him. He was understanding now some of the essence of dispel. Yes, he was sending out his magic, but it was to create an action to cause a reaction, not a blunt force blast. Or at least, that was how he gathered it.

Nothing happened, this time, and he tilted his head.

The fawn looked back to Reseda.

"I would like to learn that," he said, simply--likely referring to the mind-reading magic. Or perhaps all of the arcane. To this, he added, "Why does it... get weak, at times, and others, strong?"

This he asked cautiously, phrasing it carefully, nodding back toward the target of his failed spell. His magicka had done nothing, that he could see. He understood that she'd already explained it, in a sense--but was there more to know?

@Reseda

Reseda noticed Pridw's failed spell, but did not mention it. She knew that it would hurt its pride and make it less agreeable. It was easy to manage now and she didn't want to mess it up now.

She thought for a moment on its question before giving a rumbling answer. "I...do not know this. It is simply something that happens. Perhaps magic is simply unpredictable. Perhaps our hearts are not into it. As youpractice and grow, however, it becomes easier to succeed. There is more success then failure, but there is still a chance the spell will not work." Reseda thought back to the time that her spell had backfired so badly and given her poisoning. Embarrassing, frustrating. She was determined not to fail, yet it seemed she still did.

But to teach it arcane? A question even more difficultly answered. "Magic of the mind is more difficult to master then our native energy. It requires focus, will, and a sharp mind. Even now, I struggle to learn new spells from this element, but they are useful and powerful. Focus your mind, change your element from the core. Release it, let your will pass through."


"Living with myself."
Nothing but lies.


tags: @Pride
notes:

"Of the mind?" Magic of the mind? Was his magic not already coming from within his mind?

He turned, regarding the stones he'd thrown about. Rather than a general idea of power, he tried to focus his mind upon them. To move them, but without the concept of actions, reactions, energy.

The rock levitated into the air, and he found, to his surprise, that he could manipulate it. Control it. He turned, shuffling to face Reseda with delicate steps, keeping the stone floating in the air between them as he regarded her with peaceful silver-grey eyes.""Is this... of the mind?" Perhaps his skills in the arcane would prove stronger than that in brute force, then. Still, they seemed so similar in many ways. ""It seems a... thin line."

Ahh, a metaphor, but somehow he knew he had used it correctly, some strange ancestral memory. He took several steps toward Reseda, keeping the rock floating, for now, peering at her with curiosity.

There must be reasons that spells fail, he thought to himself, patiently, whilst keeping control, too, over the stone. With enough research, with enough practice, perhaps I can find those reasons.

@Reseda

Reseda watched with interest as the stone began to rise. This was not a spell she knew, but she could tell by how the magic felt in the air that it was similar to her whisper and mind reading spell. Arcane. Yes, Pride was learning quickly. Perhaps too quickly. Well, to be honest, she had learned her first arcane spell before anything else. The deep one had taught her to whisper. So she put it off for now.

"Yes, of the mind. It is the magic tied directly to the esoteric, to thought, and to willpower. There is no force lifting that stone besides your own mind. If it were of the energy element, we would be controlling the energy in the air to form and lift the stone. That is the difference. Although I doubt energy can be controlled so precisely." But no, that wasn't totally true. One of her favorite spells called for precision and fine control. Perhaps Pride would excel in such a spell.

"Now that you have reached into arcane, I would like to bring our focus back to energy. You have dispel and you have been able to perform a more advanced version. However, this spell is completely different and requires a finer control. You seem to have an aptitude for such things." She stirred the magic into changing, forming and shaping the particles of energy around her as she continued to speak.

"This spell will create a second version of you, a copy. There is energy everywhere. If you tap into it with your magic, you can form it into a double of your body." Reseda then stepped to the side and an exact replica of her stayed behind...or was that the real one?

They both started to speak. "How you use this spell is up to you. Try it for yourself. Feel the energy, use your magic to take control. Use it to pull your body from yourself."


"Living with myself."
Nothing but lies.


tags: @Pride
notes: