Far from Orion Miru had fled as soon as the path was clear. Darkness had lost in the face of fire and light, but she wasn't about to take chances on it returning. Her path had been silent, winding toward the wall and taking the ill-traveled tunnels of luminous green moss.

That road was a dangerous one in its own right, home to a band of gembound who took pleasure in the dismantling of others lives. They would defend their home to the end no doubt- a trait Miru suspected she could take advantage of should a threat larger than herself still be following after. Luckily there was no need for such precautions, and luckier still she got through without being spotted by the denizens of Tunnel N herself.

An expanse of light and radiant energy opened up before the small fox as she entered Polaris, pausing only a moment to take a deep breath of the ozone-tasting air. Already a rush of energy was filtering through her, sinking into the core of her being and pushing aside what had felt like cracks in her psyche. Her magic had failed her before, erupting into one final blast of heat before sputtering out as she and the others had faced the beast of nightmares. It was here that she could recover. Here she could reconnect with the primal force all gembound shared.

Her brief rest concluded, Miru skipped forward to the great light at the center of the room. To get too close would be foolish, but there was nothing wrong with loitering around the edges of its reach, right?

With each step the sensation and imagery of glass reforming filled her mind and with each shard returned a blue glow emanating from beneath her fur grew brighter.

---

Though my thoughts are my own
"This is my greatest tool to hone"
Tags:

Thankfully the light of the Spire did not touch the kitten at this moment of time. She was sheltering in the rocks, snoozing softly, worn out from all the excitement of her first day. The shadows cast over her protected her from whatever it was that leaped to the front at the mere mention of magic...the Spire...

Her eyes snapped open as pawsteps padded past her. She leaned out and looked around the corner. There was another thing not far away. It wasn't Black Dog and it didn't really look like him either. It was a...a...what was it?

Not a black thing, surely not. But it was glowing!

It didn't come to her that they were, by chance, using magic so she was safe from her fits for now. She stepped out from behind the boulder and the light of the glowing crystal fell over her. But she ignored it, her sights set only on the canine.

"Petty!" she meowed excitedly as she got closer. "You are blue! How you do that?" She gave a small leap of excitement and tried to do something like that too. But she didn't really know how and the magic instead manifested in a number of different whispers that appeared and disappeared around them. Whispers of Pretty! over and over again. But the kitten, having such a solid one track mind, didn't even notice them.

@Miru

Miru's increasing pace slid to a halt as all at once as a dark figure emerged form behind a rock. Her heart raced, not from fear but just from the unexpectedness of having almost passed the tiny creature without noticing it. The tiny shadow gazed upon her with brilliant pink eyes, innocent harmless. But that impression wouldn't last for long in Miru's mind as she turned her own crimson eyes to gaze into them.

A rush of powerful imagery flooded the glowing fox's mind as her gaze became trapped in the kitten's eyes. Intelligence, Imagination, Infinity. Contained within the pink eyes of this tiny creature was the a possibly destiny greater than any creature she had met before. Wiser than an owl, more majestic than a swan, and holding the capability of unraveling the secrets of reality itself.

The fox took a half step back, her breath cut short even as a chorus of "pretty" rang out around her. Try as she might she couldn't creak contact with those eyes. Who... was this child?

Finally after a moment of initial shock wore off Miru was able to break her eyes free. The impression was still there, but hopefully now she would be able to simply acknowledge it without the surprise. This kitten was certainly someone she needed to keep tabs on.

"Thank you, young one." she spoke in a lowered but respectful tone befitting talking to a child, "Mine is a gift of light, just like you possess the gift of sound and secrets."

The blue glow filtering through her fur continued to intensify as the light of the core shone upon her. This was exactly where she needed to be right now it seemed.

---

Though my thoughts are my own
"This is my greatest tool to hone"
Tags: @Wilder
Notes: WUFSFC21M

The kitten certainly noticed how long the thing held its gaze on her. She stared back, trying to understand why she was being stared at. There was...something in that expression that really made her feel uneasy and she took an uncertain step back. "Uhh...hi..." When there was no response, she was about to speak again.

But then the stranger decided to break their silence and she felt a little relieved. "Oooo, Light! Light is like shadow but not right? A-and sound is like silence! But silence is not sound. But I don't know what secrets are. I have a gift?" She spoke all of this very fast, eager to show off her limited knowledge and perhaps gain some in return. She still didn't realize that she had cast any kind of spells. But they had said that they had a gift of light and then said she had a gift of...sounds and secrets?

What did that mean?

@Miru

The fox visibly relaxed, her maw turning up in a lighthearted chuckle. Even if destiny weighed heavy in this young one's eyes it was still but a youth. She would have to keep that in mind when interacting with them, it had no doubt been taken aback by her initial reaction.

"That's right!" she praised as she shifted her glow primarily to her tail, waving it back and forth to cause the shadows to move in turn. "Light and shadow are two languages of the eyes. Sound and silence the two beasts that are tamed by the ears."

Her face held its genuine jovial expression as she riddled on, her red gaze flitting about as though she was on stage. "Secrets, then, are the other side of knowledge. The two elemental components of the mind."

Gaze softened again as tail stopped its waving. As seldom as she interacted with the other sentient denizens of the cave it was always so much fun. "Of course I could be mistaken; your strengths may exist elsewhere entirely. With voice that speaks louder than sound, however, I would not be surprised if that is where your gift lies."

---

Though my thoughts are my own
"This is my greatest tool to hone"
Tags: @Wilder

((sorry about freaking the kid out, character got a really interesting draw for impression :P))

The cat stared at the stranger, mouth slightly agape as she tried to understand exactly what the heck she was saying. She was using all kinds of words that she didn't understand. Black Dog had never used words like this before. How did the eyes have language? They couldn't speak! And how could ears tame beasts? How could anyone tame beasts?

She understood the secrets thing a little more. At least comprehended what he was saying but it still didn't explain anything. "S-so...secrets are like...not having knowledge? Because silence is not having sound and shadow is not having light...right?"

This was so bizarre and the kitten was so confused that her eyes started squinting, as if she couldn't see her problems. "Uh...voices can't speak louder then sound...voices make sound..." And she didn't know if she should feel insulted or not since she wasn't sure if this thing had just told her that her gift was not having knowledge.

@Miru

The fox closed her eyes and perked her ears, listening with a small nod as the kitten attempted to absorb her tapestry of words. "That is close, young one. Just as shadow is the result of light being hidden from the world and silence the absence of sound affecting reality secrets are what happen when knowledge is hidden from view."

After all, the light from shadow still exists but is blocked by an outside source. Light would cover all were it not for the presence of matter. Silence similarly would not exist were it not for space itself swallowing noise from far away.

"Oh?" she questioned to the kitten's last statement, opening her eyes once more. "Do you not believe in yourself then? Or perhaps you simply could not hear. With your chorus of commentary on my blue sheen mere moments ago I could have sworn I heard your voice pierce the limits of that which can be."

Sure, she could have simply said it sounded like magic, but what fun was there in speech without style? She could tone it down if it caused distress but surely the riddles were good for the development of a growing youth of such potential.

---

Though my thoughts are my own
"This is my greatest tool to hone"
Tags:

Now that she had caught on, kind of, she understood a little more. Secrets was just knowledge that some people didn't know. But how she had the gift of secrets without even knowing what secrets were she didn't understand. But this next statement, her voice "piercing the limits of that which could be" made absolutely no sense to her.

She tilted her head with confusion. "Huh? What are you talking about? I believe in myself! Believing is...thinking something is real, right? I know I'm real! And I can hear perfectly fine!" Although it seemed she couldn't hear her own voice echoing on rocks mere moments ago.

@Miru

With soft eyes Miru lay herself upon the ground, paws ahead with tail swishing behind ain a slow and steady rhythm. The glow that radiated from her skin was beginning to fade as the flow of magic that had been poured into it had been cut off.

"Perhaps I spoke hastily." her voice reached out with softer force than it had a moment before. "Belief in yourself refers to the trust you hold in your own skill."

He riddling tone had faded almost fully now, the flurry of fun creeping far to close to a potentially damaging state. What tragedy it would be to accidentally hurt a kitten as innocent as this, especially as they had been such a good sport the entire time.

"Within your voice as you called out in heartfelt praise I could hear the twinge of a power held dear to those who call these caves home. Do you recall that moment? Do you recall tapping into a power greater than the self alone?"

She paused a moment lest her impulse to speak in circles undermine the message and intent behind the words.

"It is okay if you do not. You have time to see and time to know. The world is wide and full of secrets just waiting to be brought to knowledge."

---

Though my thoughts are my own
"This is my greatest tool to hone"
Tags: @Wilder

The kitten's tail curled curiously. So words had different meanings depending on the context? Weird. But she wouldn't forget it. She was pretty good at speaking and communication already. Se believed in herself the way that the stranger was describing. At least, she thought that she did? She wasn't really sure what skills she had besides, well, existing.

She was pulled out of her thoughts as the stranger began to talk about some sort of power. A power greater then the self alone. What power did she know of? It was like a switch went off in her mind and she just stared for a little while. Her fur bristled uneasily along her spine and her eyes became glassy and unfocused. "Y̵o̴u̴ ̷m̶e̶a̶n̴ ̴m̴a̴g̴i̵c̸?"

She stood, her eyes going wide and she turned towards the Spire. "I̸̲͐͆̋ ̷̘͑̔̋͘s̸͚̮͉͂̀͜͝ę̴͈͔̈́͑͋̄e̶͔͉̱̩͗̀.̸̧͚͍̟͐̽ ̵̟̭̳̯̀͠I̸̛̻͚̺̱̓̃ ̶͙̜̋̓k̷̝̒n̵͍̦̘̽ò̷͇̰̪̿͆͗ͅw̴̺̙̫̅͊̒.̷̼͘͠ ̴̭̣̋̋͜I̵͇̭̰̔̈́̓͝ ̶̱͇̊͆̎ủ̴̢̻̟̘s̶̢̢̞͉͊̒e̶̡̘̖̿̓̿d̵͈͘ ̶͙̟̫̘̍͘m̷̱̄̽̍̒a̶̢͝g̶͕̝̖̑̔͘i̸̖̩̳͓͑̾ć̵̲͎̮ ̴̭̥̼̹̔̓͊̈́a̴̹̮̪͕͊n̶̘̹̪̈̔͐̀d̷̠̈́̂ ̵͖̣̽̃͊t̵̺̫̤͐͝ͅḩ̸̢̼̻̅̋͐ë̶̩́͛̚ ̴̜̖̒̏̾m̷̤͙̹̺̍̅̆͝a̵̙̦͆͂̂̎g̵̭͖̃̃į̸̰̤̹̏̄͒͘c̸̙̣͛͆͝ ̸̥̯̖̬͝u̴͎̜̲̇̿̈͝s̷̢͇͖͔͆e̷͈̪̊d̷̗̦̋͌ ̶̗̗̙̀̇͝m̴̛̯̖͍̘̓̾͘e̸̟͍͐͛̈́.̵̙̙͓͚̐" It was slow movement as her head turned back to face the thing. She reached forward to touch the stranger but it was completely out of control. Her tail was whipping and her ears were pulling back, her eyes growing wider and wider. The magic visibly sparked from her paw and she cried out, tumbling back from the force. For a moment she saw much that had transpired in her short life. Breaking from the chrysalis and getting struck by the Spire. Meeting Black Dog and the story he told her. She jerked back to reality.

She was panting heavily and her eyes came back to focus. Suddenly aware of everything around her, her ears perked immediately and she whipped around towards the stranger. She had no idea what had just happened but her head was pounding.

@Miru