Wilder looked around, as if some of the other Children could be seen prowling in the trees. They probably could be there, though, Wilder just wasn't very observant. The explanation for the name was interesting to her, but a little bit too much for her to understand. She did not understand the concept of rot, she hadn't seen it in action, but she decided not to press on it for now.

Wilder nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, I can hunt! I have claws and teeth that I use, see?" She bared her teeth and raise a paw, unsheathing her claws to show Dragon how impressive they were. "And I can use magic! Yes, I can! But not all the time. I'm special because I'm so good at magic! I think. I don't know. My friend Miru told me so and Miru knows a lot!" She wanted to show Dragon that she could do magic because she absolutely could! But there was no stirring in her gem. Nothing. The magic source was just too far away. She was feeling completely sane and in control. Perhaps that's why she couldn't use it.

@Dragon

Dragon listened, a little nonplussed. One thing he was learning, and quickly, was that this cat talked--a lot. Incessantly, in fact.

Bemused, he tried to follow the thread of thought. Magic--learning--Miru? Who or what was Miru--...

He studied the kitten, but no magic seemed forthcoming. At length, he questioned her.

"That is good. What sort of magic do you do, then?"

He remembered an unnatural voice, calling out--had that been her? She had spoken, certainly, but had it been magic, or had the kitten's voice merely disorted in the fog?

...Could she perhaps create fire, or light, as some of the Children could? Or was it something new, something... other? Something Dragon had yet to learn?

@Wilder

Wilder nodded in agreement. It was very good! She wanted to show Dragon her skills and she even reached with her mind for that strangeness she felt always present. That edge of the cliff that she could always sense, however slight. But it wasn't there, no matter how hard to tried. Why? she asked to herself. I am too far. Too far from what? But did it matter? She shrugged and pushed back the thought, settling instead on explaining her powers.

"Well, I can make little blue flames! And I can talk from a distance or in people's minds. And I can see the future and the past and make things float! I want to show you but I'm too far right now." She didn't bother trying to explain what that meant and instead just flicked her tail happily. "I'm going to learn everything!"

@Dragon

Dragon tilted his head, as best an alligator could. Wilder may not have thought of elaborating, but his curiosity was piqued, his attention latching immediately onto the "too far."

"Too far?" he demanded, though curiously, rather than aggressively. "What do you mean, you are too far?"

And then, a mention of future-seeing. Ahh! Dragon had heard of this. Even more curious, his dark eyes glimmering with interest, he scooted closer. Now this was information, if it were true! Valuable knowledge!

"What lies in my future then, little cat?" he rumbled, and the eagerness was audible in his voice.

@Wilder

Wilder swayed thoughtfully, trying to put the impossible into words. "Too far...just...too far! I don't know. It doesn't really work when I'm too far!" To be honest, Wilder was a little relieved to not have to pull on the magic. She liked showing off her skills but it was annoying that she had such terrible memory lapses. Growing a little bold, she also scooted closer as Dragon came close. He was eager to know and she smiled happily, knowing that she was about to make him very happy! She hadn't done it quite successfully before, but she had looked into the past enough. It would be easy!

She sat down, ignoring the wet grass below her, and raised a paw. She closed her bright eyes as she placed a paw on the alligator's snout and reached for the magic. Taking deep breaths, she felt her gem go hot and an unfamiliar sensation ran through her body. Was this magic? Unhindered by the trances?

For a second she dared to hope that it would work. In a moment she'd be seeing images of Dragon's future when it hit her. A ripping pain split through her head. A screaming filled her ears and she stumbled back, her eyes snapping wide open. But they were clouded and confused, dull and unseeing. Her consciousness tumbled away as her jaws opened soundlessly. Her small body began to tremble uncontrollably and images of bright blue, crackling light, and a roaring storm passed across her eyes.

F̶͓̰͓̝̆̂̾͊L̴͇̜̙̲̟̙̇̐̈́͌E̷͇͐̉S̷̝͇̭͚̊̈́́̈́̅͝Ȟ̸̼̫̻̻͕͉̉ ̴̧̛̼͚̦̖̤̍̈́͒̚Ȉ̶͚̱̣̝̠͎͑̒S̸̬͔̅̍̒̂ ̸͍͛̃P̵͉̲͊A̵͈͇̠̾̈́I̷͇̬̣͐̏̄͗͐N̶̙̳̪͇̘̈́.̴͙̗̠̂̇̏͊̓ ̶̼̲̇̈T̷̠̀ͅE̶͓̭͊̊A̵͔̯͊̓̂͘͠R̸̬̫̻̗̈́ ̶͔̼͕̅͂̍̍͘T̶͓̳́̍͌̉̂̕H̴͈͍̳̄̃Ȅ̵͍̼̳̮̤͔̃̈́̃͆̽ ̸̡̗̩̠̔̈́͛̓͗͠F̸̥̹̊͜L̷̩̟̗͊̈́̌̒̚͠E̷͙̎̈́S̷̙͈͋͛̆Ḧ̷̹̲̦̙́̓̇.̸̭͒̾͌̚͘͠ ̷͇͎̦̺͕̬̎T̴̨͎͈̜̈́͋Ȩ̵͓̲̼͌̇͠A̸̤͓̹͔̅̈́̔ͅR̴͙̼̥͊ ̴̖̣̞̅̊̈́͘̚Ť̶̠͋H̵̘̝̚͜Ȇ̸͕̜̣̓́ ̸̨͕̥͐̒̑B̴̡̬̭̯̹̄͊̐̅ͅÕ̷̥̙̳̟̠̽̏̇̊͝Ṋ̴̢͌E̶͚̜͉̘̗̚.̶̻̽ ̵̪̤̿͐̚T̶̢̡̤̤̦͔̈́̂̀͝͝Ȇ̷͓̊̽͝͠͠Ā̶̢̡̭͈̬̇̇̽̏͑R̵̡̺̥̻̖͛̓̑͆̐ ̶͇̮̃̈́͐̆̅̌T̶̬̿̉̈́́̕H̶̙̟̀͂̀͊͝͝E̷̛̖̰͋̾̀̌ ̷̤̲́͌͛͌̚͜ͅĢ̶̛̦̠̝̻E̵̛̠̟̳̖̯̿́̅M̴̯̠̏̑͐̇̅͝.̷̢̖͖̗̖̫̑̌̇͛̏ ̴̧̭̜̀̚̕͝T̴̢̡̥̜͑̀̓̽̚H̷̯̭̎͛̀E̸͓̯̳̘̭̽ ̸̪̺̤̮̮̅͛͌S̵̜̺̖̖̍̿̊̆̚͜P̴̯̳̗̭̎̆̏͜I̶̱̐͊͒R̷̠̥͓̞͕̺̐E̴͕̿ ̴̗̻̞͖̾̓̈͒͌T̴̰̙͌̇̐͑͝͠H̶͖͊͛͝E̸͕͙̓̎̏ ̵͚̖̮̈Ś̵̙͕͋̒P̸̯̦̬̰͛̃Į̶̭̞̅̈͠R̷̹̱̔́̃E̵͖̳̩̘̝̒ͅ ̷̫͋̋̽͌̕I̸̥̳̣̳͛̉̽́͝T̷̪̯͉̕S̴̝͑͑̽̓ ̴̝̣͔͂͒͗͠C̵̳͙̔̽͆̅̕͝Ỏ̶̘̦̺̽M̶̺̞͉̯̰͕͋̒̄̓̾Î̴̢̺̝̗̈́̐N̴̻̦̦̻͘͜͠G̸̻̭̼͖͎̑̇ ̵͙̯̙̰͖̍T̵̙̥͓̯̯̯̓̍̊̈́̓̌H̷̡̱͍̄́̽͛͘E̴̹̘͉̩̜̿̅̆̆̽̍ ̷̰̞̥̗̑̏̿̂̃ͅṂ̵̘͙̰̗̍̉̄Ä̷̖̖̞̹́ͅG̵͎̹̩̍͐̇̿̾̍I̷͓̫̓͛͊̄̾͠C̷̡̖̯̬͌̾̏́̂͆ ̷̙̪͒̌͌͆Ţ̶̲̜̱̎̾̄H̵͕̎Ę̷̟̗͇̖̼͌̾͘ ̸̢̭̤̋M̷̪̮̮̔ͅĄ̴͕̖͕̠̮̇G̸̤͕̰̫̏̎́̌Ī̵͚͔̓͂̐C̸͇̘̞̟̟̒͜ ̸̭̰̯̾̍̄̽̌Ì̴̧̞͂̔̀̾ ̴̨̻̬̮͙͊C̷̢̩͖̒̏̍̌A̸̰̥̮̎̀̍̕ͅN̷̨̮̮̩͝ͅ'̵̻̮͎̕͜T̶̲͖̭̲̣̏͆̽́̕͝ ̸̦̖́̈́̔̕̕Ţ̸̗̱̆͂͐͜͝Ĥ̵͖̔̿̉̂̍E̸̳̲͒ͅ ̶̼̝͖̦̦̑̈́͆̀̓P̸͚͔̤̗̕A̴̗͎͊̎͂I̶̭͎̱̲̟̲͗͛̕̕N̷̨̙̘̭̥͌̍ ̶̡͔͛͑T̸̹̾̓̆̀͑Ë̵̠̩̙́̌̅̃̿Ǎ̵̹̖̆͐R̸̭̒̚ ̷̭̦̞̱̏̎̋̿T̶̛̰̹̲͆̆̏̍͠Ḫ̵̫̝̩͋̎̕Ě̸̢̖̲̤̬̙̐ ̶̢̥̕P̷͕̘̬̎̔Ą̵̧̢͚̘̣͗͂I̸̛̼͖̠͑̏N̸͈̠̽͛ ̸͉̭́̿̐T̶̲̽̅͂H̷̖̘̳̀̔̏̐̎̕È̶̘͍͙͌ ̴̳̺͓̀M̷̞͝ͅĄ̴̛͔͈̰͋̀̑͜͝G̸͓͚̤̾͆̇͘͘Ị̶̱̈̄Ĉ̴̨̤̪̮ ̴͚̫̘̘̼̍̽̉̕͜Ẃ̶̨̞̠̜̟̪̓̏̏Ï̵͚̾̓̌́̌ͅL̷͍̮̥̆̀͌̇́̆L̵̨̬͓̗̗̲͋̋̈̉͝ ̷̝́̃̓T̶̪̙̣͓̾͗̽̚Ę̸̰͙̰͙͌̔̀̀́͜Ǎ̵̢͎̗̭͓͆̿͝R̷͉̰̘̖̈́̏̂̋̑ ̷̢̟͇͆͛̂̎T̴̥̟̩͍̜̽̆̀͐͝Ḩ̵̡̖̝͈̍È̷̢̡͈̗̼̏͌̚͘ ̸̭̟̏̈̑̇P̶̧̬͇͌̒̂͜A̸̮̙͂͂̒̉͑͋Ḭ̵͍̯͈͐̇͜Ṉ̶̠̯̍̊̍ ̸̢̺͖̓T̸̡̫̹̖̈́̎H̸̻̝̩͇͕́̽̅͆̑ͅE̵̫̐̀̄͐͝ ̵̙͈͈͛̒̒͆S̴̙̪̳͕͇͌̽̇̃Ṗ̵̠̺͛̿͋̈̚I̷̟͙̰͈̿R̸̤̤͛̍́͜E̵̙̗̞̲͕͎͌͂́̍͠ ̴̈́̈́̈́͜W̸̛̳͇̒̎̔͘I̷̞̋͛͌͜L̴͔̠̭͎͌͗̋L̴̬̭͚̞͎̀͛͜ ̴̬̬͎͐̏͆̓̚͜E̵̤̹̰̪̯̐̉́̂N̸̳̘̕͝D̸̩͍̈́̿̚͘̚͜ ̷̩͓͉̎̍̈́̎̿̿T̷̨͍̪̹̈̑H̷̡̬̟̔͂͂͊ͅĘ̸̒̔́͝ ̸̺̭͂̿͐̒̀ͅP̸̜̩̐̀̄Ă̷͈̼̍͂̂̈́̕I̵̫̠̦̯̫̖͠͝N̵̞̗͚̜̥̔͝ ̵͓̰̣͇̆ͅË̵͎̻̪͇́͛̂͗͒͝Ň̸̩̲̊͊̾͋̏D̴̡̛̝͇͋͘͝ ̸̡̗̼̱̣̈̊͝ͅṪ̶̢̡̛̩̤̼̤̑͠͠͠H̶̭̘͒̑̊͠E̸̢̙̮̥̯͛͂̚̚ ̴͓̲̘͖̉̆̚͜͝P̴̫̝͎̳̰͖̊À̷̐͝ͅI̸͓̻̣͙̭̥̍̒̃͊͊̾N̸͖̹̱̤̱͗͛̓̈́͘ ̶̛̼̱̺̦̲̩̉̑̌̋͘E̶͈̺͕͇̻͈͑͒̋̈́̀N̷̨͔̰͂͌́̊̍̇͜D̸̛̝̱̜ ̵͓̏́͜T̵͖̪̀͊̀Ḫ̴̛̦̄͂̇Ę̴̡̈́̾̑̆̍͝ ̸̻̰͖̮̑̇̒̓̈́̚S̸̲̈́̇̔̌͝P̵̛̣̘͓̫̫͙͛́̏I̴̱͌͠Ȑ̶̖̕E̷̢̡̨̲̳̫͆̾̾͛ ̴͎̯͚̩̏̈̅̌͊͝T̷͈̤̮͛̍H̸̗͚̒̂̉̄̓̕Ḙ̷͈͖̰͗̓̊ ̴̢̛̪̪͋̊̆̃̑M̴͙̭̮̹̺͗A̸̳͈͖͝G̸̛͈̭͋̀̽͗́İ̷̬̥̳̲̬̻̽͛C̶̹̺̮͕̿͂͝

She stumbled away, her hoarse voice echoing through the mist as she reached for Dragon unseeingly with claws unsheathed.

M̸̺͕̱̞̑̊̀͋A̵͙͕͈͖̩̓͒͗̍͜͠Ģ̵̣̗̼̃̿̚̕I̸̪̮̜̼͓͗̎̋͐̅̐C̸͑̓̾̎̕͜ ̴̨̞̬̳̘͙̂͗́͋I̷̼͑̈́Ş̵̧̡͓̬̑͜͠ ̸̛͍̠̩̯̝̹͊͑͠Ṫ̶͍̣͍̊̉͑H̷͎̅̊̈́̑̎E̸͈̦̞̐̋̿̀̀͂R̶̺͔̓̊͘E̶̯̦̝͈̠͙̕ ̷̢̛̳̲̜̃̂̀̑M̷̬̞̭̥͍̫̏̇͋Ǎ̴̖̟͙̖̳̃G̷͈͓̫̲͐̊̌I̷͚̦͙̘̤̪̋̍C̷͚̖͋͑̒̋̌ ̸̧͇̟̭͖̐̉̅͐̇̌Į̸̺̭̣̏̆̕Š̷͓͆̌͝͠ ̷͓̀̎̆͆̉͝H̷̔̿̂͊͜Ȩ̴͕̙͂́̇̽͝R̸̺̗̳̙̈́̊̊͒͛É̵͖̭̝͓̠ ̷̗̮̟̼͆͋̇͘͝G̶͕̿̄̐̀̇͠I̶̢͔̗͛͒̈́̓̚V̶̺́̈́͆̀̑̀Ē̸͖̜͝ ̴̧͈͗̿̈́́͝I̷̜͂T̵͖͇̫̭̟̃̔͛͛̄̂ ̷̡̲͈̼̓̊T̵̞̒̓O̷̗̩̫̝̤̪̽͒̊͠ ̸͇̯͎̈͒͠M̶̞̆̋̓̈͜͝E̵̪̱̿!̵̨̜́̅̄̄̇͐ ̶͚̳̼̝̳̬̃̓̓̚͠I̵̧͚̘̰͌̕ ̴̮̗͛͛͋̽̀͘W̶̡̛̦̤̥̗͕̽̓̿A̴̝̓̈́̾̅̄̉N̵̨̩̬̊ͅT̷̠͇͕̉̅ ̶̞̩̋̾̄̓Ị̴͘T̵̤̘͑̿ ̸̞̾͒I̷̳̟̒̄̿̉͜ ̶̧̥̫̖̬̔͆̋W̸̡̙͛̽̀̍Ä̵̟͖̤́̉͛̓͆̚Ņ̸͉͆̎̅̅̕̕T̵̨͉̣͎̮̼̎̈́͒̍ ̶̱͓̺͍̑͊̊̃͂T̵͍̫̭͗͜͜H̸̖̯̼̭̻̟̐̌̔Ȩ̴͔̘̻̔̊̐̎́ ̷̱̯͖̰̅́M̶̢̂̽Ä̵̲̱̠́͠G̸̛͇̒̈́̾͠I̶̡̬̦͚̔͌̂̂͛̾͜C̴̯̙͋͐̈̈́͒ ̶̡͚̌͠Y̷̡̤͚̏Ǒ̶͉͇͇́̈̋͋U̴̧̼͓̮̥̒̀̈ ̶͓͚͍̘̈̀̂̔̈́W̶̞̦̩͇̳̣̔̇̂͒̎͠Į̸̬͑̑̒̐̀̔͜L̴̢̨̲̼͌̇͛̉͑̾L̸̡̝̟̳͛ ̷̧̪̈́̏̅̾̓G̶̳̈́̈́͛I̷̠̮̬͕͈͖̒̇̊̈́͂̚V̴̤̭͚͙̉̏̈͗̕E̴͙̗̯̙̳̔̋ͅ ̶̨̙͓̘͉̪̎̚M̶̧͉̌̈́͋Ę̵͇̞̥̻̝̐̏̅̀͝ ̵̝̳̬̊͌͛͐̈̉T̶͉̗̖̼̬̂̌͆͋̆͝Ȟ̶̯͎̼̥E̷̠͉̳͍̤̓̇̆͗͝ ̶̧̥͈͘͠M̶̢̨͔̮̲̾Å̸̙G̶͔͇̮̳̈́̔̒̀̊Ĭ̸͍͎̜̞̙̲̏̕͘Ç̴̱̖̯͛̓̎̀́̍!̶̗̦̞͎̤̠̅̽̔̈́͘̕

Her eyes rolled up into her head and she slumped forward, unconscious.

@Dragon

The alligator remained still, rather baffled as the kitten planted a paw directly on his snout. But perhaps she required touch for her magic to work? A flicker of suspicion struck him, but before he could dwell on it overmuch, she apparently quite lost her mind.

A flood of babble escaped her--garbled gibberish the likes of which he'd never heard. He couldn't make heads or tails of it--not a single word. It sounded mad, twisted and tangled and confused, and a moment later the cat was lying limp in the mud.

He stared.

Did he... should he eat it? Wait, no, she was a speaking thing, even if she was a tempting morsel just lying there.

Dragon stared some more.

He had no idea what to do with Wilder. He had zero experience with small creatures coming up, spouting nonsense, and falling over. Slowly, he turned, respositioning himslf so that one huge, though luckily relatively blunt-clawed right forelimb hung over her. Then he pawed at her, calling out, clumsily pulling at her pelt with his foot.

"WAKE UP, little kitten." And then, bewildered, "Are you dead..?"

@Wilder

The kitten was only out for a few seconds. As soon as Dragon began to prod at her with his paw, her eyes snapped open and she moaned. Her head hurt. She shakily pushed herself to her feet, tottering for a bit before she came back to reality. "S-sorry, did I black out? I was going to tell your future or something." If Wilder was anything, she was certainly determined. She had told Dragon that she would tell his future for him but as she reached out again, trying to attune herself to that allusive magic, a streak of pain split through her head and she stumbled back, crying out.

She fumbled in the mud before slipping and landing on her stomach with a loud "oof" and began rubbing her head as if to alleviate the pain. Her vision was flickering and strange visions passed across her eyes. Every so often, there was a streak of glowing blue passing through her vision. She tried to shake it away, physically, but nothing was happening. "Ughhhh....I̴ ̴d̶o̷n̶'̶t̷ ̶f̶e̴e̴l̷ ̸s̸o̷ ̴g̴o̸o̵d̶"

@Dragon
roll why

The alligator continued to stare, perplexed. What was wrong with the thing? Was it hurt? Had he clawed it too roughly?

But--she'd tried to read his future.

"...Was that magic?" he rumbled, bewildered but getting an idea, now, of what this might all be about. "Magic backfires, for some," he explained. "Not all the time, but often enough." Not for him, of course--the worst he ever did was burn himself while casting fire (and while this was absolutely his magic backfiring, he had never put two and two together), or at times fail to breathe fire altogether.

"You could try again--but do not destroy your body. You are small." This was very matter-of-fact. He did not add "and weak," because that would be insulting and anyway, he didn't know if she was weak. Fragile, perhaps. "It will become better with practice."

@Wilder

Wilder nodded weakly, lights still passing before her vision. She knew she should stop before something bad happened. Well, something worse. She wasn't sure what had happened moments before, but she didn't really want to know. But she was determined to show Dragon that she could do this.

She took a few moments to collect herself on the ground before standing up again. "Okay, I'll try again." She reached forward and gently placed her paw on Dragon's snout. She concentrated, trying to reach forward and see...something, but it was such a strain to even get the magic to react at this point that she gave up only moments later. She looked down, subdued and disappointed. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm not ready for that spell just yet." It was too bad. She wanted to see his future almost as much as he did at this point.

@Dragon

The alligator rumbled thoughtfully again.

"Yes," he decided at last--though what, precisely, he was answering might have been a bit unclear. "Many start with simpler magic until they are more practiced." He watched, then, silent with the cat's paw now removed from his snout.

After this pause he again spoke, now changing the topic. "What do you know of the caves outside of this one? Their names, what lies within--what do you know of others who live in them? Perhaps," the alligator went on, "we can share information. Exchange. It may be useful to both of us."

@Wilder