Kitty stiffened at the electricity, the wisp bobbing a little more vigorously... but she didn't move much beyond that. "E-lec-tricity," the creature echoed softly, the wisp drawing near to her again to settle down near the ear it had spawned by. Then, feeling a little bit like showing off wasn't the worst thing, Kitty tried to summon a second one. It winked into existence on the other side, bobbing in an inverted rhythm.

She dared offer a small smile, her fur finally starting to flatten (kind of -- she was still awfully fluffy). Being able to produce two at the same time was impressive, at least as far as she was concerned -- certainly, she had no clue that she was talking to perhaps the youngest Transcendent to ever grace the caves, but it wasn't as though it particularly mattered. Being able to cast two pieces of magic at once -- even if they were the same spell -- wasn't exactly something common.


@madhukar

Another 'wisp' was summoned. Impressive! Madhukar smiled with her eyes and continued to purr as her own tail curled around her loafed body, perhaps subconsciously trying to mimic the wisp-maker. It didn't reach nearly as far as the wisp-maker's tail could. This interaction, so far, had been merely a game of mirrors. But at least that seemed to help improve the wisp-maker's mood. And Madhukar's, somehow.

Maybe there was something else they could do, something Madhukar could show this hatchling. Immediately, her mind raced back to the bugs. They were a little bit like the hatchling's wisps. Colorful, bright, floating around in a lackadaisical fashion. A little less sensible than the wisps in their pathing, but just as fun to watch.

Madhukar would slowly begin to rise, just as cautiously as she crouched down. "Follow," she would say in a gentle tone, hoping the little hatchling would at least be able to understand that. Just in case it couldn't though, Madhukar made some kind of tail gesture that could possibly be construed as 'follow me'. With that, she would turn in the direction of the rainbow bugs, walk a few steps, and then look back to see if the hatchling understood.

@Kitty

It took Kitty a minute to catch on, the shifting of Madhukar first catching her off guard and then drawing cautious interest. Truthfully, she didn't feel secure on the ground like this, but hopefully whatever Madhukar had to show her would be alright? Kitty rose to her paws and started to toddle after Madhukar, oblivious to the appearance of the chromatic bugs she would soon be privy to.

The wisps followed her, moving slower than she did and thus trailing behind just a bit and leaving barely-there trails of light in their passing. In the daytime it was hard to tell that they glowed so much, but they absolutely did and it meant that little Kitty would always have a nightlight to comfort her.


@madhukar

And to the chromatic bugs they went indeed! Once Madhukar was sure the hatchling was following, she retraced her steps, back to those pretty plants and those interesting smells and that constant bumbling about of raving bugs in the air. She stopped walking once they came into view, sat down, and nodded towards them in a sort of 'over there' gesture. "Bugs," she'd say, continuing with this theme of show and tell.

Hopefully the wisp-maker would be distracted by the bugs, distracted enough to not notice any more static coming off of Madhukar's pelt. She focused... nape of the neck to the base of the tail. Okay? Go!

And it went. Madhukar was glad for that feeling of control. Grateful that it seemed that at least this new hatchling wouldn't have to deal with the lack of it that she had dealt with as a kitten.

@Kitty

Her eyes widened. The chromatic insects were fascinating in their bumbling, silly movements and Kitty was easily enraptured. She batted at one with her paw and let out an alarmed chitter when it stung her, jerking her paw back. Usually, her paws would just pass through a wisp. The pair dissipated with her shock, and Kitty whined, favoring her paw. These things sucked.

Madhukar's electricity escaped Kitty's notice, but mostly because she was busy eyeing the bumblebugs with no small amount of suspicion. She glanced back and scowled, wondering why Madhukar had brought her here. "Why bugs??" Kitty finally asked, her ears laying flat.


@madhukar

Madhukar hadn't expected the hatchling to do what it had done. It swiped at a bug, before the feline could stop it. And that bug stung it back! Madhukar's fur bristled. "No! No hit bugs!" She had deemed herself the protector of these bugs, she wouldn't tolerate anyone bringing them harm. And she didn't feel sympathy for the pain it seemed to cause the hatchling; it had only gotten the violent consequence for its violent action.

After that, the hatchling seemed annoyed. Well, that was pretty sore, wasn't it? 'Why bugs?' Why bugs?! "Bugs a' cool. Like wisps," Madhukar explained, giving the wisp-maker a look of disapproval. "Yo' hit bugs, bugs hit yo'. Make sense?" Madhukar thought that was cool. They could be interesting and fun to watch, but they also commanded respect. Even if they didn't look like that's something they would do. Madhukar both envied and related to that. Life was full of people disrespecting your boundaries and your work. The kitten thought it would be best if this hatchling learned not to be one of those people sooner rather than later.

But how to take this lesson further without using words? Madhukar didn't really see a way. She figured the bugs had taught enough. Let the kid touch the stove and they won't do it again, right? Hopefully.

She focused on the space between her shoulders. From there, to the back of her left ear. Send spark? Spark sent. Weak spark. But still, spark sent.

@Kitty

Kitty eyed Madhukar suspiciously and licked at her paw. This was... not fun. The sting went beyond the initial pinprick and seemed to radiate pain and heat (albeit not all that much), and her paw was starting to swell where she'd been stung. "Wisp no hit!" she complained, but it... made sense, she supposed. If she were to hit Madhukar, she'd have probably been hit back, too. The bug rejoined her compatriots quickly, and Kitty huffed, licking at her paw more persistently now.

She'd be fine, of course, but this was still a pain in the tail.



@madhukar

"Bug is no wisp," Madhukar countered, looking unenthused by the argument. The hatchling seemed to be licking the place where it was stung with more fervor. How curious. Madhukar had never swatted at any of the bugs, so she didn't understand that the sting was more than just a sting, like any other pinch.

"Wisp is magic. An' my electricity. Bugs not magic. Bugs live, like yo' an' me." Magic was a lesson the wisp-maker would be lucky to get this early, if it could understand it at all. Wisps didn't hit their creators, Madhukar guessed, except perhaps for when the creator failed to control or properly create the wisp. Madhukar actually didn't know if that was the case for wisps. Mushrooms, she knew, didn't always fight back. Electricity fought everything. Did wisps...? It would be too early to ask, really. The hatchling would most likely have to practice and learn more language before it could provide Madhukar with an answer. A reasonable one, at least.

@Kitty

Kitty couldn't argue with that (not that she had the available vocabulary anyway). She blinked wide-eyed at Madhukar as she explained a little bit about... magic? Well, Kitty didn't really know what that was, but she knew that the wisps were nice. She considered that, too -- magic not being alive. Sunny had known that the wisps were different from her, of course, but they certainly acted like they were alive.

She licked absentmindedly at her paw. The bugs certainly hurt when they hit back. She considered this news of magic, though, and considered it further. Maybe there were other types of magic she could do, more than just wisps? It bore further inspection. She watched a bee buzz away from a flower, and she curiously touched the flower with one of her paws.

A flickering, shadowy, sped-up version of a flower's life cycle raced by her eyes and she drew back, turning her head at it. She looked back at Madhukar -- had the cat seen that, too? Or was it just her? And more importantly, was it magic or was it just... something she could do? "Little speck? Then taller?" she asked, gesturing to the plant to clarify. Had she seen the past? It certainly felt like it.


@madhukar

Madhukar watched as the hatchling continued to lick its paw. Strange. Madhukar had never swatted a bug before, so she'd never felt its retaliation. Was it... did it feel grimy or something? Why did was it licking the wound so much?? Well, whatever, it was walking now. To a flower. It touched it and Madhukar could've faceslapped if she were able. 'When will it learn to stop putting its paws on everything, I wonder?' At least the plant didn't feel a need to bite back too. If it had, either Madhukar or the plant would've been blamed and Madhukar didn't like either of those options.

The hatchling had a... strange reaction to the plant. Seemed to just freeze for a second there, and when it came back all it had to say were four words. Was it talking about... "Th' plant?" Madhukar just looked confused. It seemed like the wisp-maker meant the plant, but Madhukar wasn't quite understanding. 'Little speck...' was that like a name or something?

This was probably going to be a rather infuriating game of charades.

@Kitty (Once Madhukar catches on I'll have her mention Sunny! [probably next post])