The rhodochrosite chrysalis that had been set just outside of Emuh's cave at last cracked and shivered. Within, Wilder was slowly coming around to consciousness and the adrenaline that had been shooting through her nerves when she'd last been awake was again flooding through her veins. Everything came to a head in a single snap of panic and the crystal shattered around her, depositing the wet, trembling bundle onto the ground.

She bounced to her feet immediately, brain still whirling, trying to catch up with what had last happened to her. She was...taking the Trial. Right. The crystals, and Emuh's harsh words. The failed magic hot in her veins. She came to the realization a moment later that sent dread through her every nerve.

She had...failed.

Eyes wide, body trembling nonstop. She had failed. Her trial, she hadn't cast a single spell! Failure. Failure!

She thought that, perhaps, she'd feel defeated. Depressed. That she'd shut down like she had before and everything would feel hopeless yet again. But....no. She felt angry. At herself, at the trial, at the whims of fate making her magic freeze before it began.

It welled up like boiling water until it burst from the lid and suddenly there was light, blinding light and Wilder realized she was screaming and something had exploded. There was heat - not the searing painful heat from before, but hot enough for her vision to clear (it had gone blurry? She'd barely noticed).

Plasma lay before her, splattered across the stone, a shard of her chrysalis gone blindingly bright. She stared at it, or as close to it as she could without stamping a permanent spot in her vision, before she whipped around, the anger still hot and heavy in her veins, and stopped in front of Emuh's cavern.

She was about to call for him at the top of her lungs when an inquisitive thought appeared at the edge of her mind. And then she realized how close the presence had become. Vaati was near - not close enough that he'd been in danger, but near enough that she could feel him behind and to her left.

She looked back. "I told you to hide and wait for me," she hissed, shoving him away with a thought, but he resisted.

She felt him push back, staying where he was, worry flooding her mind. He had waited for her - she could see the place he had been and she could feel the time he had been waiting. Half a cycle he had waited and now he was coming back for her.

But she had failed, hadn't she? She'd have to do it again. "Right, so go back and wait more."

He didn't move.

She turned fully to face him and hissed. "Leave me alone, okay?! I can do this by myself!"

He peered out from where he'd been hiding and locked eyes with her, beady black against searing magenta. And the question that pressed from his mind to hers stopped her for a moment. Why? Why alone?

She stared at him, the question echoing in her brain for a bit, and her anger was slowly calmed without her notice, just his presence nearby grounding and comforting. He pressed further, assuring her that he would be nearby - he would not go in with her but stay outside. Close enough that she could feel him, but far enough so that he didn't interfere. She didn't need to do everything alone - there was always someone that wanted to support her.

She swallowed heavily and breathed out a shaky breath. She was still angry, but it felt more under control now, with his steadying thoughts to ease her. Maybe with him nearby, things would be different. Was that what she had been missing?

Still tense, but at least a little more relaxed then before, she turned and returned to the edge of Emuh's cave. "Emuh? I'm here - I want to try again!"

"EMUH WOULD ASK WHO," came the immediate, mocking tones, echoing from somewhere in the darkened depths of the room. "BUT HOW COULD EMUH FORGET THIS VOICE?!" A pause, and then harsh, cackling avian laughter: "-THIS VOICE THAT GAVE SO MUCH AMUSEMENT..."

A soft flutter of wings, and the enormous, ram-horned owl was setting on the stone before Wilder, scrutinizing her past flashes of translucent violet energy that ran like sparks along his feathers. "ARE YOU CERTAIN YOU WISH TO TRY AGAIN? SURE THAT YOU ARE READY?" And was this mockery--or solemnity?

Even... pity?

Glowing green eyes stared, even as the aura around Emuh shifted to match them--a soft green glow pulsing here and there, pollen drifting from nowhere to settle around his talons. "TELL ME--DO YOU WISH TO TRY THE SAME... OR SHOULD EMUH MAKE YOU SOMETHING EASIER?" And this, yes--this came with a sneer.

@Wilder

She flinched when Emuh landed in front of her, shame pressing her ears against her skull, but she stood up taller, feeling rage - at him and his stupid trial and at herself for the failure she'd shown him - attempt to mask the overwhelming feeling of embarrassment. She wanted to tell him that of course she was ready, she'd always been ready, but he wouldn't believe it, not after what pathetic show she'd put on before.

She huffed. "It will go better this time." And they were both words of challenge and consoling to herself - this had to go better. There really wasn't any further she could fall, after all.

Her hackles raised and an angry yowl gurgled in her chest at the notion that she needed some kind of easier test. Something easier then others had endured? No - not a chance! Light began to flare from warmth growing under her pelt and light leaked from her eyes and face and paws - her attempt to be menacing, and perhaps if one found a glowing, angry black cat menacing, then she'd done her job well. "I don't care what test you give me," she snarled, "But don't go easy on me just because I failed once. I can do it and I will do it." She didn't add that it had been a bad stroke of luck last time or that she'd just had a bad day or something. She wasn't going to give excuses that he probably didn't care about anyways.

She felt Vaati's encouragement from the side and latched onto it. She could do this.

Her certainty was met with harsh, cawing laughter--though whether genuine, or mocking, was unclear. "WE WILL SEE," was all he said--and then he was gone, a glimpse of black feathers fading into the shadows beyond.

A familiar scene twisted the cave as light dawned throughout it. And again, the door--with a grinding certainty--rolled shut behind her.

Once again, three crystals floated, bobbing lightly up and down, over a black pedestal. Each held a heart of a different glowing color, gentle wisps of power reaching visibly to slide around beside them.

The one to the left of the room was golden, to the right a deep purple edging on blue, and ahead, soft pink. The fourth, empty pedestal stood just before Wilder, waiting.

Wilder would not need a new warning that proceeding without caution could be dangerous... after all, she had experienced the bite of their magic firsthand. And now here they were: a second chance, either to succeed in blazing glory or again to crumple and fail.

@Wilder

She glared at Emuh as he flew away and then she turned to the twisting cave as the familiar image appeared before her. She was ready, more ready then before, and she could still feel the encouraging presence of Vaati close by. He hadn't followed her in, but he was near. That was all she needed.

She stepped forward slowly, eyes flicking from each gemstone to the next. She worked over what they could mean in her head - magic, definitely, as they had lashed at her before, but what kind of magic? It was a Trial made specifically for her. So...perhaps it had something to do with her. And her magic.

There was a few moments of silence as she worked it over and a thought appeared. She had many types of magic - what if each crystal represented the magic she had? The pink, of course, for her innate magic of arcane. The right for the powerful forces of energy that caused black holes and bright plasma. And the golden one could be fire or light or both.

So, perhaps...the final pedestal awaited something else.

She turned and willed a crystal to form on the fourth pedestal, but the spark that had appeared for her before she'd entered suddenly sputtered away. Panic began to rise - was she going to just keep failing and failing her magic?!

Did Wilder work well under pressure?

That was the question at hand, for the horribly familiar sense of increasing power surging from the crystals now greeted her. The previously gentle rays of power drifting from the stones became an electric lashing, stronger, brighter and pricking at the feline's fur.

In the darkness beyond the pool of glowing lights, Emuh remained silent.

@Wilder

The increasing magical power in the room made her panic further grow. She very quickly stopped her attempts to figure things out on her own, since reaching into the dark would take up more and more time then looking directly for the answers.

While the stone-creating thing did make sense to her, what if it didn't work? What if it aggravated the powers further and she continued to run out of time until Emuh's trial blasted her out again? She could't handle that kind of failure twice in a row - no, she needed answers first.

Taking a deep, steady breath to try and calm her nerves, she reached for Vaati and, upon feeling his presence, reassuring and grounding, opened her mind to the future. And this time, she felt the magic flowing easily as images began to sail through the sea of her vision, hoping for a clue on what the Trial was asking of her.

The images flashed through her mind in a color-streaked blur. Wilder herself was visible, a pool of black fur slinking to the crystal.

There was a picture of her pressing her forehead to the pink stone, the murmured words 'show me' echoing through the future-memory like dripping water. Wilder, bright-eyed, prancing sideways as the golden crystal floated from one pedestal to another. Another flash showed the violet-blue, laying on its side, almost carelessly set away from any pedestal.

Other flashes came. Images of the crystals' magic lashing out, snaring her; of her very form disintegrating, speared upon igniting rays of color. But that was nothing new. That was a vision of potential failure: but a vision she had already lived.

1/3

@Wilder

The images were confusing - as they always were - but Wilder had long since tried to divine perfect meaning from them. Perhaps it was a secret she would learn once this trial was over, but for now, she did as she'd seen. Touching the crystal was, well...safe. Relatively. The pink one at least, she hadn't seen rending her body apart just by gently touching it with her head. And, from the words, she assumed she was looking into its history.

So, she stepped forward, still wary under the light of the crystals, and slunk towards the front pedestal. A crouch and a leap had her scrambling onto the edge with just enough room for her to fit without falling off.

Urged by both her own curiosity, a thirst for more answers, and also the images she'd seen, she did just as she'd seen in the vision and pressed her forehead against the crystal. A soft >"Show me," danced across her tongue as magic connected her to the magical force in front of her.

The magic threaded back to her, and... how strange.

It was if it held no history, this crystal. As if it had come into being mere moments ago, created from nothing, willed into existence by Emuh or... by nothing at all. The only glimmer of memory that coincided with this magic was a vision of almost-now: Wilder padding in, the crystals on their pedestals... and her approaching the gleaming pink.

@Wilder