Shoulders lowered and brows relaxed as the fitful kitten ceased their thrashing. Miru's crimson gaze unlocked from her friend's now shielded eyes as she assessed the situation. Breathing had stabilized and slowed. No sounds of broken bones had crossed her ears. No one else was around to have intervened. For the moment at least it appeared the event had passed.

With a small sigh the lean fox took a few steps forward, ready to move Wilder out of the Spire's light. Before she could get too close, however, the kitten bolted back to life prompting Miru to freeze yet again.

The entity that had spoken in Wilder's voice was nowhere to be heard, and its presence had apparently left no impression in their mind. Both a blessing and a curse, Miru imagined.

"Indeed I did attempt to show you the gift of our kind." the fox replied, voice stable but concern and care still present in her gaze, "But it seems your small form is not yet strong enough to hold the vast potential within."

Not really a lie, but at the same time no one was likely to possess a powerful enough vessel to contain anything claiming to be the Spire.

"Wade slowly into those waters, Wilder. It seems for you the rapids are especially powerful."

---

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

Wilder tilted her head, a little hurt. She looked down at herself, as if checking to see if she was really too small, before looking back at the fox. She was certainly bigger then her...but she was still young, right? Was that what Miru meant? Since she was so young she couldn't control whatever she wanted to show her?

But...she wanted to be strong! She wanted to be the best! She wanted to be able to protect and make people happy! "Our kind?" She wanted to know what that meant. She wanted to know what it all meant. It was hurting her head trying to think about it and she pawed at her ears, as if there were some kind of ringing. She wanted to know. She wanted to see. She wanted to understand.

Miru's way of speaking, all in metaphors and not in straight, clean speech was making it even more difficult for the kitten to understand. Her tail flicked around as she tried to understand what Miru was trying to say. "Uh...water? Rapids? I can't swim. At least, I don't think I can? I've never tried. But I don't know...what you mean by that? We're not swimming?"

@Miru

Miru's face turned upwards in a grin at Wilder's literal interpretation of her words. The kitten was still young, but in time it may grow in wisdom. For the moment it was enough that it had washed back upon the shores of sanity.

"You and I, though different in physical form, share a title bestowed upon those lucky enough to be born into this world with thoughts and words. The stone upon your cheek, the stone upon my head, and the rationality with which we perceive the caves all make us as Greater Gembound." she answered the kitten's earlier question, sidestepping the query born of mistranslation.

As she spoke Miru moved in seemingly absentminded orbit around Wilder, in all honestly positioning herself to minimize the chance that the glowing center of power would catch the fated one's eye again. She was also keen to focus on the more physiological aspects of the greater gembound lest talk of magic tempt a rogue wave to sweep her friend off the shore once again.

"There also exist other living beings here, imbued with movement and sometimes gem shards but not with speech or sentience. It is these creatures that those of us who eat meat prey upon to survive, the lesser gembound. With such claws and teeth as you have it would not surprise me if it becomes vitally important for you to learn the distinction."

---

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

Wilder watched Miru and rolled her words around in her head. She was finally speaking in a more understandable way. At the mention of her stone, she unconsciously lifted a paw and touched it softly. It felt strange to touch it, almost like she was touching a sore, although it wasn't painful. She felt it but she didn't at the same time. Strange. But she forgot about it a moment later as she listened intensely to Miru's speech.

The distinction between Lesser and Greater gembounds had never been made apparent to her and she nodded with a soft "ohhhhhhhh" at the realization. Yes, she had eaten mice before, but it had never really occurred to her that they weren't sentient like her. She had always felt a little bad about it but now she understood. She didn't want to hurt anyone that could understand! Well, her prey would understand, but she would starve if she didn't eat them!

Throughout the whole thing she felt a nagging sensation, almost like an itch, to turn around. She wasn't really sure why, but she really wanted to. No, needed to. She almost did, she began to turn her head when a faint blue light caught her eye and she immediately turned back. She wanted to talk to Miru like a sane cat for now.

She raised her paw and slid out her claws, imagining catching her prey underneath them and ending them with her sharp teeth. "Ohh, I get it. So...do these lesser creatures still feel claws? Because I don't want to hurt anybody! I want to make everyone happy!"

@Miru

She didn't want to wait for Miru to answer. She wanted to hunt for herself now! Did lesser creatures feel pain? Did they not? Maybe she could use the magic Miru was talking about to find out! She sprung to her feet and dashed away, not going too far from her friend, but she would quickly get distracted. And when Wilder got distracted she got lost.

So she wandered back into the main of Polaris, wondering where she had left her friend.

*exit