Oliver was, in fact, a medic. And while he wasn't there to take part in the contest, he took his magic very seriously nonetheless. Pride's show had been pretty, but he wasn't sure what--if anything--the worm had done. Now, though, Aster--one of the judges, a black dog that looked kinda like him!--was buckled over and asking for a medic.

Worriedly he rushed right over, talons and claws scraping rapidly over stone as he scuttled in, head and rump both held low. His ear-tufts pinned back as he extended a winged forelimb, as if reaching for Aster, but he was summoning up his magics.

"Uh--hold on, I'm--doing magic, are you okay? What happened?" he asked. He tried to lightly touch Aster's shoulder, sending the flicker of cleansing magicka forth as he did so.

His magic wasn't flashy--it wasn't showy, or maybe even impressive--but to him it was one of the most important things in the caves.

{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}

@Aster

Aster let out a faint grimace as Oliver touched her shoulder, but otherwise she didn't move. She wanted to go back to Eridanus and sleep for several cycles under the ferns, alone. Though, she did notice, at the hybrid's touch she was beginning to recover a little, gradually feeling better. Or, at least, she didn't feel like she was about to hurl the contents of her belly everywhere.

"The... little one," Aster quietly managed. The last thing she wanted to do right now was what she was the worst at-- speaking. But she quickly realised she didn't quite have the energy to summon magic to try to communicate with Oliver. "It cast magic. Couldn't undo it."

The dog drew herself up a bit, trying to gesture at her belly. "Feels bad," she said, helpfully. "Like I ate bad food. But worse." There was a long pause as she settled herself back down onto her side, head on the cave floor and eyes only half-open. "Very worse," she added.

As the small parasite entered the stage, Vladis was mildly impressed. He had seen the wrestling match with the small creature and was surprised that it wasn’t simply a mistake that it had appeared. That opinion quickly dropped, however, as it appeared to simply stand there and then walk off the stage. Its display was much less impressive than the stag before it.

That was, until one of the judges meekly called for a medic. Vladis was close enough that he should have been able to hear the quiet conversation the two canines. It was unclear, however, if that was the case and the conversation was ignored or if he couldn’t hear them after all.

“Well, den! Seems our second competitor looked creepy enough that just its buggy face made a judge sick! Here’s hoping the medic is competent! Dat’d be a nice change of pace, HA!”


Speech. Thought. Ratty's Out Loud Ratty's Telepathy

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Notes:

Oliver frowned a little, focusing for a moment. He stared at--or rather, through--Aster as his magicka flickered up. He attempted to use it to 'see' the progress of whatever had been done to her, and the effects of the curative magics he'd already used.

"...Right, uhh--I see it. With magic," he added helpfully. "I've cleansed it now--my magic's getting rid of the uhh--sick bits. You should feel better in a few minutes. But you might wanna like--make a rule? No--making the judges... sick? Or maybe even no using magic on you." He glanced at the contestants as he backed away from the area and back into the audience, his brow furrowed a little.

...It wasn't something he felt should need to be said.

{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}

@Aster

"It's my turn now, innit?"

Elspet moved out from the veritable crowd at the edge of the competition, picking at her nails in trepidation. A comforting weight pressed against her right arm, and white came into her periphery. "You will be great," Ayr whispered, then offered a soft nuzzle to the cheek. The gorilla stopped fidgeting to grin gently and return the nuzzle, gently cupping her beloved's cheek in one hand. "Thanks, love," she rumbled, drawing away only to take a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

She absolutely exploded into the arena, a bassy roar --- distinctly sounding like a deep WAAAH! --- emanating from deep in her throat. Her palms smacked heavily against the cave floor, a complementing her thunderous vocals. After making quite a show of sound and galloping on all fours, Elspet skidded to a halt at the heart of the competition. It was here that she would stand up on two legs and begin to beat on her chest. With each successive chest-slap, she hoped that her magicka would be doing its stuff: igniting a progressively brighter flame within her body and showing through as white-hot points about her face, chest, and fingers.

Once her internal flame was at its peak: her entire body was near white-hot, now. The pain was becoming borderline unbearable, Elspet threw her arms up and over her head. Inhaling deeply --- glow brightening as oxygen flooded her system --- the gorilla puffed her chest out for dramatic effect. She took a few lumbering steps forward, before casting her head up and bellowing. Her arms, burly and glimmering in light, suddenly went dark as she threw them downward.

A thick, billowing cloud of flame would appear to rise from the gorilla's lips. It would quickly fall, settling on her shoulders first and then rapidly descending to cover her entire body. All the while, her white-hot glow would seem to drain from the feet to her head, fire transitioning from inside to outside. In the magicka-rich and oxygen-filled atmosphere of Polaris, this flame thrived. The putrid stench of burning hair and fur came up, but she gritted her teeth and bore through the pain.

Still on two limbs, Elspet grinned and drew up her proverbial guns, bending them at the joint and presenting a classic flex. So far, so good.

After a few moments passed --- just enough for the judges to, hopefully, marvel at her display --- Elspet hunched over a little bit. Spreading her arms out for dramatic effect, she bellowed to the high heavens (or the Polaris equivalent.) Her magicka pulsed for a moment, but then disappeared entirely, leaving her still (impressively) roaring again. There was no deafening crash from above, no close-proximity soundwaves to put her flames out.

Totally playing it cool, she dropped down onto all fours and bowed her head to the judges. The gorilla then spared a rather unnerved glance towards Ayr, and hollered over the flames: "medic?!"

She then ran out of the arena, off to the side in order to roll around and hopefully be doused.

@Zevruu

Ayr knew exactly what she'd gotten herself into, as she watched her partner run screaming in front of the judges to set herself on fire a total of two (2) times. This was Typical Elspet, a roaring hurricane, and she loved her.

Even if she was on fire.

The unicorn was concerned, but she stood her ground until Elspet made the call for a healer. A quick glance to Oliver told her he was busy tending to one of the judges, and Ayr went gracefully galloping towards the gorilla rolling around on the floor.

A flood of magicka coursed through her, the gemstone ring around her tail shimmering. And then, as if from nowhere, a heavy splash of water flooded over the flaming troll on the ground, extinguishing the orange flames with an angry hiss.

She tilted her head down, nudging Elspet gently. "Come on, dearest," Ayr said quietly, tucking her head under her arm to lead her back into the crowd. "Come sit down and rest. Well done."

Ratty let out a mighty squeak of surprise as the next competitor came out, yelling and starting a cluster of fire first inside of them and then covering the outside of their body as well. The echoing grey stared wide eyed during the display. It was instinctual, after all, for creatures to be both mesmerized and fearful of fire.

Then the gorilla bowered her head, left the stage, and began rolling around on the ground as water appeared to drench the flames. Vladis took a moment to reply, stunned by the display as much as Ratty was. In truth, Vladis had not seen much in the way of magical workings so much of what he would see would startle him.

Not that it showed for long. “OoooOOeeeeee! Dat dere was a mighty nice gem torch! At least she managed not ta set da whole place on fire! Though her yellin’ was jus as impressive! Glad I ain’t her mate over there, huh Ratty?”


Speech. Thought. Ratty's Out Loud Ratty's Telepathy

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Notes:

Zevruu was, once more, participating in the magicka competition. He didn't know why he always did this - his magic usually wasn't flashy enough and he was never quite good enough to even do well. He never planned it out - he just went with the flow, with a vague plan.

That is, until now.

He was prepared. He had practiced his magic not long before the start of the competition and could even feel himself get better at it. He knew what he was going to do...He just had to hope it would work. So it was with a head held high that he watched those before him.

First, a deer with a very impressive display of magic. He was already starting to become a little unsure - his magic wasn't as flashy as that. The next...a tiny worm who didn't seem to do anything. Except one of the judges was suddenly calling for a medic, so they must have done something. He didn't pause to think on what as the next came out. A large gorilla, displaying fire magic. And setting herself on fire. Well, okay. Whatever you have to do. And then it became his turn.

He was going fourth. Again. Wasn't he always going fourth? What was up with that?

As he walked out, he couldn't help but think of the previous two times. His first year, he was a young and scared cat who had been downright terrified. The second time...He was a little more confident. Not as scared. He had grown, and to anyone who had seen both competitions, it was shown. Perhaps by the fact that he didn't cry the second time.

But this time, he walked out with clear steps and his head held high. He knew what he was doing...perhaps for the first time in his life. He had been thinking about which spells to use and what order, and he think he knew now. He was going to start with a simple one, but one he found rather pretty. It had never been one he'd really struggled with, so he hoped that would continue. He'd really hate to fail his first spell.

And, luckily, it seemed he wouldn't. He was able to manipulate the light into displaying a rainbow right above his head, shining out right before the judges. He noticed Kin-kin judging and gave her a little wink. He almost found it funny that here she was, judging it, when she was once the champion.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts'