Pride considered, his ears flicking this way, then that, as he thought. "All right--bearing in mind that my magic is not at its peak at the moment, there are a few things, I think, that I can teach you. The first is how to sense the presence, even, of stone; and that may help you attune your mind to earth and rocks. But I cannot show you how to do that; so try that, I suppose, as we work. Feel the stone beneath your paws, the rock all around and above us, and try to sense it even with your eyes closed."

Pride paused, thinking, and then--gathering his thoughts--went on. "Then there is the ability to manipulate what rock there is: by shattering it, for example, or causing it to tremble or split, or shaping and reforming it into gemstone. We can begin with these; shaking it is likely the simplest to begin with."

"In time you can move on to the hardest things: to create stone from nothing. I formed my armor this way; you can simply manifest gemstones, if you wish. It is difficult, but doable."

Pride moved forward, taking a couple of sedate paces to stand just before Felina. "We'll begin with manipulating existing stone. You showed me that you can shake the rock; it can become much more powerful, with focus and enough magic poured into it. Watch, please, and stay close." He took another step, then, nearly standing over her, and then concentrated, eyes slipping shut.

Do as you told her; feel the stone, he told himself--and, as an afterthought, warned his familiar to move somewhere safe, mind-to-mind. Then he cast out his magicka, like a net, through the rock--hoping it would aid him.

It started off not dissimilar to a small pebblequake: a little shaking, the smaller rocks here and there seeming to jump and skip across the floor. But then it gained in intensity, a low rumbling that turned into a roar, a vast area around them seeming to shudder and jump, shifting and threatening to throw them off their feet. A few large stones and quartz shards crashed to the ground around them, and shattered.

Then the growl of the rock ceased, the shaking subsided, and Pride took a breath and opened his eyes, looking down at Felina. "You're all right? -Do you understand what i mean, now? It is only a matter of... magnitude, I think," he explained.

@Felina

Felina watched how Pride cast his stone spell. It was so powerful! If he wasn't standing over her, she would certainly have been severely injured. She seemed unhurt, though.

In a small, anxious voice she told Pride: "That...that was...a whopper of a stone spell! I'm going to give it a try, but I don't mind admitting that it may not quite be the same."

The only spell similar to the one Pride cast, at least that Felina knew, was "Dislodge". Well, it was worth a try. She focused on a small area several feet from Pride. Hopefully it was a safe enough distance away from the great stag.

@Pride

The white stag turned, ears cupping toward the sound of cleaving, shattering rocks. "Interesting!" he exclaimed; "I hadn't seen magic used that way, before." He wasn't sure if it would strike everything--would it split Gembound in half, too?! What about their stones?

A tilt of his head, and he focused, for a moment.

Almost immediately a gemstone rose up, crawling over his right front hoof and trapping him neatly in place. He blinked, and looked down. "Ahh, I'd--meant to create a gemstone, to test with, but it seems to have-... ahh. Not gone where I wanted it," he offered lamely. A tug of his leg did not free him, and he stumbled, and then looked to Felina.

"Can you break this away? To free me? Without--destroying my leg, I mean," he added, immediately worried about the potential consequences.

@Felina

"Can you break this away? To free me? Without--destroying my leg, I mean..."

"I...I'll try my best", Felina replied. She sounded quite anxious. She hoped Pride only tripped, but wasn't actually hurt.

The runty little female bobcat gave "Dislodge" another try...

@Pride

When the stone broke, he breathed a sigh of relief, stepping free. A quick shake of his legs told him that they were unharmed, and he offered Felina a nod. "Well done! Thank you. That was--more useful than expected. Perhaps something I can learn," he added, and it wasn't empty praise.

"Ah, let's see. What else would you like to learn?" he asked, thinking.

@Felina

"I'm glad you're OK. I got a worried when you tripped", Felina said to Pride. "As to what else I'd like to learn, my answer would be if you can teach me any more stone spells you know, I think that would be great!" She sounded genuinely interested and eager. "You're a really good teacher, Pride!" She truly *meant* that compliment, too!

@Pride

Pride considered.

There was no harm in trying the magic again, he supposed; and so he gave it another shot.

A small, twisting spire of clear, smooth quartz--like a transparent unicorn horn--rose from the ground and gently toppled over with a clink. "There--creating stone from nothing; you could try that, perhaps?" he suggested, looking to Felina.

He wasn't sure how much she could get from just watching him, but perhaps she might find her own way to replicate such magic.

@Felina

She saw the beautiful gem that Pride called forth from his spell. She wracked her memory, but couldn't come up with a spell like the one Pride cast. "I don't have a spell like that", she answered when he asked her if she could try a similar spell.

"I'd love to learn that spell! Can you teach it to me? Please?"

@Pride

He nudged the quartz Felina's way, as if offering it to her--he had little use for it, but perhaps she'd like to see it. He considered, looking it over. "I press my magicka into the stone below my feet, and I imagine what I want to shape, what I want to form, as I do so. It then creates the gemstone I'd like to see. It's how I made my armor," he explained.

"The best way to learn is to try, but if you do not get it straightaway, you can continue trying on your own or later on--do not get discouraged if it does not work. You can always look for another way to accomplish the same thing, too," he added.

@Felina

((OOC: Sorry for the long wait.))

Though she couldn't form a gemstone, she might possibly know a spell that summons pebbles or maybe even fist-size rocks. It was only a matter of how to do it *safely*. She decided to cast "Shard Storm" again.

This time, however. she'd just try to arrange a few rocks or pebbles into a small pile. If she could cast "Shard Storm" with a more precise intent in her mind, it just might work. Of course, she knew Majicka was finicky, but surely there was a way to control it?

Felina concentrated as hard as she could. She hoped no one would get hurt. She used her Majicka, albeit less of it than usual when casting "Shard Storm". Then she made an effort to control how the spell might manifest itself...

@Pride