Shuffling up, Pollen felt for the whip with her magic, feeling it curl within her paw. Good, that rest did her well. Breathing in, she curled it around, using it as an extension of her own arm through the connection it had with her.

Very good. Grinning, Pollen drew her arm back and whipped it forward, testing her control over it. It curled more, and she tested how it moved while she whipped it out, cracking it and curling it into a sort of fish, pretending she was able to grab an arm and wrench it down, or something. It wasn't obvious, either- if she used magic, then would they even know?

Breathing out, Pollen ordered the plant to make itself secure, knotting itself around her wrist without cutting off the circulation. There. She was ready to practice, then, and she tested her hand's range of motion with it. Yep! Fully clear. Oh, and how she smiled, ready to practice her own whips against the target she'd set up.

Rolling her shoulders, Pollen got herself ready. Time to get to work. Tensing her fingers on her braided whip, the muta sucked in a breath, setting her golden eyes on the bush before her.

"Better not move," she teased, rolling the whip around.

One step back. Another- she wanted to see if she could hit it from this range. The whip dragged with her, and she pulled it back, ready to attack. Right, don't move... Circling the shrubbery, she moved her wrist, watching and waiting. It was a false tenseness, and it was easily broken by her whip cracking into the plant, shearing off some thin branch from it.

It tugged at her wrist, and she winced at the pain when she pulled back her arm, rubbing at it with her free hand. No, that did not feel good. This is why she needed her practice, so she could protect Aethril and defeat those rebels. She wanted Rodd to be proud of her- wherever he was, anyways.

Again. The basis of practice was doing things again. Turning back, Pollen pulled the whip closer, feeling it roll. Right. Breathing hard with exhaustion, she launched forward with the whip, cracking it next to the bush. A miss, but still a roll- good enough. She panted as she sidestepped and stumbled for a second, losing her footing as she kept her eyes on the bush.

Again! Lashing out the whip, Pollen sliced into the shrub, barely making a dent. Weak. Again! Corrupted rage flowed through her as she attacked again, and again, and again, losing herself in the rhythm and no longer practicing. She was just taking out her tired motions on the poor plant. She could see her vision blurring, and her arm ached.

One more attack, and the vine wrapped around a part of the plant, getting itself stuck. When she tugged back, she could hear cracking, and she could feel pain in her wrist, but...

Oh, no. It was stuck. Well, that wasn't good.

Slowly, Pollen followed the trail the whip made, grabbing it with her hand as she came closer. Oh, no- nonono, this wasn't good..! Reaching out with her free paw, the muta reached into the bush and tried to find where the knot was, struggling to follow its line. No, not there--

There. Breathing out, Pollen tried to untie it, but-- nothing. Well. Could be worse ways to lose her whip, she supposed. There was an easier way, at least, and that was simply snapping off the twig it caught itself on. One twist, and the whip was free, dropping down into the muta's hand.

Finally, it was back to her. Here, she untangled it easily, letting the shrubbery's part fall to the floor from her poor whip. The weapon itself didn't seem too terribly damaged. If it was, she could simply heal it, but it would do for now.

Her arm, though, was a different story. The whip itself has gotten loose in her anger, it seemed, and she'd need to fix that. Hm. Frowning, she traced its roots up her lower arm, feeling where the blood spotted under her fur.

It stung, but her priority was her whip.

Stepping back and woozy from the mix of stinging pain and anger, Pollen cradled her arm in her other hand, staring down at it dumbfoundedly. This needed to be fixed. She would fix it. Struggling to pull the plant itself back into her, she grew hasty in her magic, and the plant itself shot right into her flesh.

Fuck! Clenching her hand, she cried out as she fell to her knees, blood pooling out from where the vine attached itself. It dripped down her arm, and she breathed out in shudders, struggling to bring her consciousness into focus. Nope. No, this was awful.

Without warning, the child flopped to the ground, her arm bloodied with the failed magic. Fuuuuck. That hurt. She could barely see through the pain, even as she dragged her arm in front of her face. Fuck. Ow. Ow, owow, and she hissed as she barely even moved the plant attached to her arm.

She wanted to sleep so bad, but she needed to fix this first. One last reach of magic. Curling her hand over the vine, she struggled to remove the roots from her skin, fixing them to the right layer. It barely worked- she still bled (and she bled a little more, actually) but it was less painful, at least.

With that done, she dropped her other hand and sighed, her eyes slipping shut. That was enough for one training session, she supposed, breathing in and out in stabilizing breaths.

And she fell asleep. Right in the middle of Polaris.

exit pollen to snz town