Kitty nodded quickly. "Little speck! Then got tall!" She gestured towards it again, and batted at the flower to dislodge a seed or two. She sniffed around for a seed to clarify, since she didn't actually have the word for it just yet. It took her a moment, but she found an acorn which was just barely a seed and rolled it towards Madhukar. "Little speck. Then gets taller." She gestured to the tree she'd gotten it from the base of, her eyes sparkling. It felt like she was teaching Madhukar something!


@madhukar

When the hatchling began to bat the plant, a growl started to come forth from Madhukar as if to say 'Stop that.' It was quickly interrupted by surprise, however, when the hatchling came back with... what was that it had rolled toward her? Madhukar's eyes widened. A... speck. Madhukar's eyes followed the wisp-maker's directions. This teeny little thing became... that.

WHAT?!

Madhukar's jaw dropped slightly, her brows furrowed, and her gaze landed back on the hatchling. 'No way. It's making it up, it has to be. Right?' And yet... Madhukar didn't feel like that was the case. She almost didn't want it to be. If it was true, if little specks got taller and became plants, then that taught Madhukar something indeed. Something she wanted to know. How had the hatchling known? Was it magic?? What kind?! Surely not the same kind that make harmless little wisps in the air, right!?! Madhukar's mind turned to one creature that might be able to help.

"Follow. Wan' yo' t' meet someone." Madhukar would turn away and begin walking. She would make sure the hatchling was following. As she went, the kitty would call out: "SUNNY-SNAIL!"

Sunny had to come see this.

@Voidmother

Sunny was, as usual, tucked inside a little hollow near the bones of the great serpent that made up the Fern Trench. "HERE!!" she called back, beginning her steady ascent to the mouth of the aforementioned den. Madhukar would find her eventually, eyestalks straining forward as she tried to categorize the shy creature tagging along with Madhukar. "Oh, who is your friend? She began to slowly move closer to Kitty. Hello littler-stone, I am Sunny-the-snail! Needing help?" One eyestalk turned to Madhukar, curious. Questioning. Why had this animal been brought here?


@madhukar

Madhukar followed the (surprisingly strong for a little snail) voice over to Sunny. The hatchling followed along as planned, although not necessarily as expected. "Hi Sunny. Foun', uh... littler-stone in Eridanus an' i' has weir' magic. Can see wha' plants used t' be. Can yo' magic-see?" Madhukar wasn't beating around the bush. She was confused. She wasn't an expert at reading snail body language, but it seemed like Sunny was confused too. They were ALL CONFUSED!!! Everyone except... um, littler-stone. I guess.

What would the snail do?

@Kitty

What was that? Well, a snail -- that part was clear, since that was what the little creature called herself -- but the red panda was confused. (It was alive, so she shouldn't hit it, right?) Still, Kitty sniffed at the snail, and then looked a little warily back at Madhukar. "Magic?" Kitty asked. She'd not known that she was using magic. Had she really been? But... wisps were magic, and static was magic. Couldn't you see magic?

She squinted. Whoever this snail was, Madhukar trusted her to know the answers -- so maybe Kitty could get answers from her, too.

Sunny's eyestalks waved. "Strange magic? Or is it magic at all? Sunny-snail can seeing. What plants used to be..." Sunny gestured at one of the many ferns nearby. "Using this power on the plants, yes? Sunny will see if it is truly magic at all." She waited for Kitty to move, and focused her senses. The stones behind her would act as a control -- sure enough, their light blipped into existence with their variable intensities, and she waited to see what Kitty would do in the meantime.


@madhukar

The wisp-maker did not understand "magic" it seemed. While that was fair -- Madhukar had only really explained that wisp and electricity equals magic -- it was also a heck of a lesson to give, far more suited to be taught by the likes of a giant nerd deer, or... maybe an unnaturally charismatic snail? "Can ge' someone to talk abou' magic later. O' Sunny can maybe," she would tell the hatchling.

Sunny, meanwhile, had doubts about whether or not this was even magic! WHAT! How could a hatchling possibly know the past of a plant mere moments after it had hatched!? WHAT!!! Had anyone else made such a claim, or even anything nearing that suggestion, Madhukar might have been jolted from neutrality to fury. But it was Sunny, the snail. Madhukar couldn't be mad at Sunny the snail...

The kitten anxiously awaited the results of any magic-seeing. As a courtesy to the snail, however, she would not speak words of impatience. Instead of words, her tail would fidget and her eyes would drift to the wisp-maker, looking for... perhaps, magic. Although Madhukar had never been able to magic-see herself.

@Kitty

Kitty shifted uncomfortably. She didn't like being watched, but she supposed that she wanted answers, too, and gently touched a fern, letting her eyes close. Nothing happened. Seriously, nothing. But... she was being watched, wasn't she? They were expecting her to have answers? And what if they thought less of her, now? Would Madhukar not want to talk to her anymore?

So she did the only thing she could think to do -- took a deep breath, in and out, and turned back to Sunny looking as calm as she could manage. "Little speck," she shrugged, praying that the fern was similar enough to the other plant. "Saw th' before. Magic?" And with her heart hammering violently in her chest, she patiently waited for Sunny's answer.

And before Sunny's eyes, no blip of magic appeared. She didn't consider that a spell might have failed, because Kitty, with her lack of understanding of such things, had pretended otherwise. Sunny's foot rippled, confused but pleased. "It is not magic," she said, "at least not in the traditional sense." She looked Kitty over, eyestalks waving as she tried to see more of the red panda. "But it is certainly an ability worth coveting. I wonder how else you can use it?"


@madhukar

The verdict came: not traditional magic, but a useful skill. Hm. Hmmmmm... Well. Alright. Fine then.

Contrary to what the hatchling believed, Madhukar was no less intrigued or impressed by the ability. There were all kinds of things about magic and not-magic that she didn't understand. Maybe Tahi knew more, but* that nerd probably wasn't nearby. Sunny wondered what else the hatchling could do with it? Maybe a test was in order. Hm.. what would they all like to know about...

"Hol' on'." Madhukar would go running back to where she'd stashed a certain few items.

-- time skip I guess --

She would return, struggling to carry an absolutely massive feather in her jaws. "HE'! GO' 'IS!" Her mouth was quite full of the singular feather. She would bring it over to the snail and the hatchling and set it down. "Try ih."

@Kitty
*but I'm not going to bring in ANOTHER one of your characters hehehe