Wilder remembered this place. Once upon a time there'd been a door here, sealed shut by strange magic. Lots of gembound had gathered to help, and she'd been one of them. She still remembered the pain like yesterday, a rebound of her magic streaking up her leg, burning her skin. She was still wary to cast fire magic ever again.

And...after that...

That was the last time she'd spoken with Aure. At least, the last time they'd really had any kind of conversation. And all she'd done was cry and moan and talk about how she wanted to die. That was...a long time ago. But Wilder was grown now, older and learned. Still, it held enough painful memories that she'd avoided this place.

But she needed to be stronger. It was long overdue that she continued her path forward, to become greater so that she could protect more people. Even if she didn't have many people close to her, even if they didn't know what she did for them, it was enough to help.

She approached the place where the door had once stood, Vaati a ways away, waiting by her old home for the trial to be done. She couldn't rely on his comforting presence now - this she had to do on her own.

She took a deep breath. "Emuh," she called out. "Are you there? I would like to take your trial."

The shaggy silhouette of oiled feathers and curled horns thudded down before Wilder. "WHO--ARE YOU-" he began, then cut himself off with a clack of his beak. Head tilted to one side as he regarded her, eyes staring--and the crackling frost that had been wisping around his wings shifted, changing to something subtle and esoteric: a thread of pink trails emanating an eerie low hum.

"NO. EMUH REMEMBERS YOU! IT IS NOT A QUESTION OF WHO!" He laughed, a grotesque melding of bellow and cackle, then stepped aside.

"COME IN, TINY ONE. LET US SEE IF YOUR POWERS ARE WORTH OF ADVANCEMENT!" And then--after another, brief cackle--"-OR EVEN SURVIVAL!"

---

The room before Wilder would twist, the moment she stepped inside. Emuh faded behind her, though the soft thud of wingbeats swiftly vanished into the darkness around her; behind her, the cave door grinded shut. At first, even for a cat, the darkness was complete: not even a glimmer to reflect in the green tapetum, leaving her eerily blind. Then--light!

A soft glow to her left: golden.
Ahead: warm pink.
And to the right: a deep purple, edging on blue.

Each color resolved then into shape: floating metallic-crystalline shapes, each with a heart of gleaming color, wisps of light and power reaching out and shifting like the rays of a star, or light refracted through a diamond. Each hovered, bobbing gradually up and down (with a soft hum of power) over a black pedestal. And each held the odd, unsettling sensation of being aware: of watching, observing, of waiting.

At the center of the room, a fourth pedestal stood empty, a slot in its center.

The crystals felt dangerous; it might be unwise to proceed without some idea of what, first, to do.

@Wilder

Her eyes wodened marginally, both at the appearance of the massive bird, and his i,sistance that he knew her already. She opened her mouth to speak, say something back, but her voice was lost in her throat, anxiety rendering her vocal chords unusable.

So, instead, she nodded, trying to put every ounce of,her determination into it as she stepped forward into the cave. She wished she had Vaati or even her wisps, but she didnt have time to conjure the flames now and she needed all her strength for the trial.

Her fur stood on end as darkness descended and Emuh left, leaving her alone in the pitch black. She whipped around, trying to find somethong - anything! - when suddenly light bloomed.

She turned towards the source, the strange crustals, and approached slowly, although stopping a safe distance away. Uncertainty, confusion, fear all passed through her quickly, settling on a wavering determination. The trial had begun.

She felt for the streams of magic, to reach out into time to reveal some hint about what the crystals were for, what they would do in the many possibilities ahead, but she wasnt off to a strong start as the magic failed her. Discouraged, her ears flattebed and she crouched, hoping that whatever force here didnt notice her failure.

The magic flickered, failed.

The glow of the crystals seemed almost to fizzle, then flare with static crackling that plucked at Wilder's fur. Aside from this strange increase in the sense of magical power in the room, all went silent.

Waiting.

@Wilder

She waited a few moments in case something happened, but the crystals did nothing. The seemed to almost be....waiting. She shivered and concentrated, dividing her attention between the room and the spell.

Bad idea, because the next moment her gemstone seared hot and pain drove into her head. Sge let out a squeak and flinched back, squeezing her eyes shut against the wave of nausea sweeping over her.

There was a silence in the room, at first--beyond that magic crackling. It was the silence of the weight of thought: of a giant, powerful magic owl staring down from the darkness and wondering just what the heck this cat was doing.

Admittedly, her magic was not the sort one could see in action--but so far she'd just sort of stood there, then winced. But--no; she'd done something. Failed, a second time: he could see it in the additional power that sparked now from the glowing crystals, their magic becoming an almost painful lash, like loose electric currents seeking an easy ground, instead of gentle rays. Now and then a tip would snag in Wilder's fur, not painful yet but powerful, and the promise of pain was there.

Emuh clacked his beak--a loud, gunshot-sharp sound--and sighed, his voice emanating from the room as if from all directions. "SO FAR, A 'NO' TO BOTH," he crowed, adding on to his initial observations with bored mockery.

@Wilder

Wilder could hear him now, yelling from what seemed to be some kind od perch in the darkness. Watching her fail. Something akin to anger pushed away her uncertainty and she looked up in the direction that shed heard Emuh's voice. Though she didnt retaliate with words, she was determined to prove him wrong, that she could do this!

Of course, it didnt help that she still coupdnt manage to grasp that magic that eluded her.

Hissing witb frusteration, impulsiveness and impatience overrode her caution and i,stead of staying where she was, she got up and trotted forward towards the crystals to inspect them closer.

As the third sizzle of failed magic touched the crystals, they flared as if in response.

The promise of power became power, a lashing torrent of magical storm that rose and churned through the room. Lashes of electric-feeling magicka grew from static to searing pain: a few loose thrashes that struck Wilder as she approached the crystals, but which seemed to find a target in her, latching on and jolting through her.

It was paralyzing, burning, agonizing; it was too much, too much pain to bear and too much power for her gemstone. It would feel as though it were burning at her cheek, burning her away--the room blinding with colored light, spinning, falling as Wilder's gemstone-... no, not burned, now.

As it rose up to encase her.

The last thing she would hear was Emuh, sounding wholly bored and disappointed, bar a faint thread of sardonic mockery in his voice, "WELL, WASN'T THAT ENTERTAINING... NOT A COMPLETE WASTE OF MY TIME, OR ANYTHING."

---

Wilder will return to her chrysalis, which will be moved to just outside Emuh's trial room as it forms. She will reawaken after two weeks, at which point she may attempt her trial again.

@Wilder

As soon as the crackling of magic reached her ears, she knew what was about to happen. She used up all her chances, and now her punishment for failure. Just like at the door.

In a desperate attempt to do something, anything, she violently thrust magic forward towards on of the gems - she didnt care which - and made to explode its every atom, frusteration boiling her temper over into fire.

And then the magic streaking through her merged with her anger and suddenly she was fire, every nerve singing with her fury. She was screaming - from pain or her despair? - as her own body before white hot rage and she barely heard Emuh's mocking disappointment before everything rapidly faded to black and sensation was lost to the chrysalis.

*sad trombone exit