Blackberry trotted into Polaris, the cave now pretty familiar, having visited it so many times. But now she wasn't visiting it alone, nor with Blueberry. Huckleberry followed her into the room behind, trailing slower then her. Blackberry had grown slightly frusterated with the young gembound, having to stop all the time for him to sniff plants and rocks, wait as he sat down and stared blankly away, tried to get him from leaving, and so on. He was strange and Blackberry was worried about him. If there was something wrong.

But he looked perfectly happy now, his eyes wide with interest as she led him into this large, magical cave. She had brought him here because she knew that he would be strong with magic. He had displayed it greatly before, and this would be a good room to practice. With the Spire and the wide open space and, of course, the chance that they would meet lesser and greater gembounds to practice on, it would be perfect.

After a while, she halted and turned to her son. "Okay, we'll stop here. Why don't you show me that spell you used on your sister?"


___________________________________________________________

"Lock the doors and close the blinds"
We're going for a ride.

tags:
notes:

Huckleberry followed Mama obediently. She was angry at him. Why? Did he do something? He had only stopped a few times. He wasn't really sure why he stopped. The plants were okay, but he wouldn't have stopped for them. He broke down crying for a bit but he couldn't quite remember why. He had been stable for a while and hopefully he would remain so during their lesson.

Polaris was new and just stepping into the cave caused him to give a little jump and a squeal. All of a sudden, he had more energy then before and shot forward, racing around the area Mama had stopped in, every so often leaping into the air, fluttering for a moment, before touching down and racing again.

Fun! This was fun! This was a big big cave! Their Tunnel was nice, but it wasn't this big! Lots of room to stretch and fly! "Lots of room! Lots to run!" He sang happily as he let out his energy.

But then a sudden fear striked at his heart and he froze, whipping around. Something was there! No, just a shadow. A flickering light! No just a crystal. He was open here, exposed, in danger. He wanted to go back to the cave, back to his family, back where he could curl next to Jayberry's side. He didn't like it here! No!

He was suddenly breathing fast, breathing heavy, his heart racing out of control. Some part of him, some deep rooted instinct suddenly cried out and released the magic. There was a funny feeling in his head as he cast the spell and, within seconds, his heart was calming.

He took a deep breath, back to his stablized position before turning to Mama, realizing that she had spoken. He cocked his head, confused and a little worried. "Don't hurt family. You said that. I can't use a spell on you, mama."

@Xervas

Xervas had been exploring. He hadn't really left Cetus, and he figured he could explore. Maybe he could find something smaller to hunt, something besides the gigantic vermin inside the foggy cave. Unfortunately, it had been quite a walk, and he had found nothing of interest. Until now.

The lammergeier halted upon seeing two figures. There was one, a bird of some kind, almost like him but not. Different colors, a longer neck, and that wasn't getting into the matter of it's... mutation. It was feathery and had wings, so it had to be a bird.

Then there was something that had a vague resemblance to the goose; though mixed, in a way, with some other beast. The young bird barely understood what they were at all; he hadn't even thought of Gembound like this to... exist.

"-can't use a spell on you, mama."

So they were related? Interesting. He moved closer, trying to keep a smaller profile; though he was walking, and he was a bit tired, so he wasn't exactly invisible. Yet he wasn't committed to staying hidden. Maybe these two Gembound were helpful, like Dragon had been. Maybe they were enemies, and would attack him. He didn't know what side they leaned towards.

So Xervas sat and watched from the sidelines, seeing what would happen next. If anything. Maybe he had caught the end of whatever this was.


"Speech."

@Huckleberry

Blackberry sighed at Huckleberry's sudden change of demeanor. Both of them. She had come to expect this kind of behavior and she had found that it was easier to wait it out until he came to a more agreeable state. After a minute or so, she was able to talk with him again.

She shook her head with frustration and the claws on her stomach twitched. "No, no, I told you not to hurt your family, unless for sparring. This is sparring. I would never fight you for real, little one. I'm just helping your get your strength, see?" But then movement caught her eye and she spotted the bird some distance away. A little brown thing that was watching them carefully. She gave her child a smile. "Perhaps, then, you can spar with this one! Although you can be rough, since they aren't in the family. Go on now, show me what you can do!"


___________________________________________________________

"Lock the doors and close the blinds"
We're going for a ride.

tags:
notes:

Huckleberry tried to figure out this meaning. He did not know what sparring was - mother had only ever explained fighting and killing to them before. That was really all he knew how to do when it came to violence. At least for right now. So attacking his mama was a strange concept to him. He furrowed his brow, trying to figure it out. It made his head hurt.

"No, no, no, no, that's not it! What is it? Sparring? Fighting? I don't want to fight my mama! No no no, I will fight my mama! Because she wants me to! But she said not to...but she just said! To fight her! Oh, what do I do?" Huckleberry paced in front of his mama, having mostly forgotten about her as he mumbled. However, he did catch her voice and he instantly snapped back in to focus and turned to face the creature.

It was a bird, kind of like mama but not. He hadn't seen something besides his family before and the food they hunted. A new creature! How cool!

At first, he wanted to approach the thing and just talk, but mama's words boiled his blood and gave him a dark need to kill this thing. Yes, it was not family. Kill it. Rip it apart! But wait, no, that was mean. It wouldn't like that. Mama said to just fight it right? To test his skills? If she wanted it dead, then she would have said, or killed it herself. So no kill. Just fight.

That made him perk up a little bit and he cheerily called, "Okay!" With purpose, he began to walk towards the bird with a big smile on his face. "Hello! I'm Huckleberry! That's my mama! She wants me to fight you so I'll fight you! Please don't scream too loudly, I don't like loud noises!" With that, he opened his wings and static raced across the feathers. He gave the bird another smile as a bolt of electricity shot straight from him towards the bird. His feathers and hairs stood on end as the magic passed through him and he felt a little funny but he thought that the bird might be feeling a little more then funny.

Round: 1
Attempt: Shock the bird
Defense: none
Injuries: none

@Xervas

Xervas froze when he heard the goose tell the other to attack. He was somewhat glad, though. He did not want to fight a bird that had twitching claws on its stomach.

The thing-- he wasn't sure exactly what to call it-- turned to him. He introduced himself as Huckleberry. And then came the speech of that he was going to attack.

Xervas thought he would be ready, but he simply wasn't. He had expected them to charge at him or something, but no, it shot electricity at him. In a fit of panic, he sent out a shockwave-- as usual, the magic flowed through him easily, and towards the other.

Unfortunately, the electricity did hit him, regardless of the shockwave; the vulture fell down, his entire body spasming for an instant. There was this burning sensation, as well; not as severe as one might think, but it was definitely there.

Round: 1
Attempt: Dispel directed at Huckleberry
Defense: Nothing; he's now stunned and on the ground
Injuries: Mostly pain, some burns


"Speech."

@Huckleberry

Blackberry could have slapped Huckleberry. She hissed when he started to talk to the bird. He wasn't supposed to talk to his target, he was supposed to fight! Was that not obvious? Did he not understand how stupid he was being?

But then the fight began and Blackberry had to force herself to stay out of it. She was impressed, though, by the powerful lightning that her son shot from his body. He carried her magic, though unused by her, in his veins. And he was proving to be strong with it. "Yes, very good!" she called out.

She watched carefully to see what Huckleberry would do when the magic hit him. She would not leap to his aid unless it seemed that he was in any real danger.


___________________________________________________________

"Lock the doors and close the blinds"
We're going for a ride.

tags:
notes:

Huckleberry gave a laugh and a small prance when his spell his the target. Hooray! He did something good! He turned around, expecting to see his mother's proud face, but he saw only her narrowed eyes watching carefully. Was the fight now over yet? For a moment, he was confused, but then his body was suddenly flung into the air. With a loud cry, he fell flat on his face.

For a moment, he sat there, stunne, before he snapped. He shot to his feet and turned around, hissing and spitting terribly. "You! How dare you! I'll get you for that! Kill! Tear apart! Destroy! Not family, no need to protect! No need to live! Huckle, Huckle, Huckle, I'll pay you back for that, I will!"

With a screech, he shot forward, locking his eyes on his target. Make them scream! Make them fear! Make them hate him and make them hate itself. Another jolt, a different kind, hopped from the young hybrid and shot towards the young bird. He wanted to see them on the ground, screaming, calling for help. He cackled loudly as he got closer, waiting for his spell to take effect. This would be fun! Yes! Mother was right! Fighting was great!

Round: 2
Attempt: Make Xervas terrified
Defense: none
Injuries: minor bruising

@Xervas

The bird felt, for the smallest moment, a feeling of victory as he sent the other into the air. Yes, he could maybe win this battle. But what about the strange bird? Would they attack him too?

Before he could get up, there was a small shock. He wondered, for a short moment, if this was their next attempt at an attack. But then the hallucinations, the visions, started.

He was back in Cetus, or so it seemed, as it was foggy. There were eyes around him, the sound of something scuttling. Giant spiders before him, larger and more twisted than the real things, creations of his own mind. Rats, with overgrown teeth, snapping at him. Perhaps this was all a blessing, for he was young, and his worst fears were monsters; things that lurked in the dark.

Xervas, in the real world, had his feathers fluffed in alarm. He was shaking, but not calling for help. Staring at nothing, looking around wildly. He was, after all, nothing more than a child.

The images faded as fast as they had appeared. Filled with a sudden rage, he sent another blast towards Huckleberry. Yes, he would repay them as well. This was repayment for the terror he had felt... except that there was no magic. It did not summon as it usually did. There was nothing at all.

"What did you do?!" he screeched at the hybrid, fearing that whatever he did had removed his magic. The terror from before was seeping back in.

Round: 2
Attempt: Dispel
Defense: Again, nothing.
Injuries: burns


"Speech."

@Huckleberry

Blackberry didn't know what happened. She didn't know if he had used a spell or not, but she guessed that he did, as the bird suddenly seized up and began to shake. She had never seen that spell before, but she had a feeling she knew what it would do.

She had felt, ever since her family begun, that she knew something else. How to make others fear. A spell only her family shared. A perfect spell, yes, that was a good one. And Huckleberry had performed it well. She raised her head with pride. Her children were strong, natural fighters. Even if Huckleberry was a bit...odd, he still had her spirit and he had her thirst for battle.


___________________________________________________________

"Lock the doors and close the blinds"
We're going for a ride.

tags:
notes: