Some time after leaving for the swamps, Wilder came soaring towards the place where the Merchant was waiting, astral wings shimmering under the lights of Hydra. She landed in the warm sands, the feathers drifting off into cosmic dust as she strode forward. The white cape that she had received from Tenzin was no longer white, now covered in mud and sand, just as she was, and still tied around her in a way that created a pouch under her belly. From this pouch, she pulled out a number of crystals and offered them to the Merchant without a word - a lumpy piece of charoite, a flat and round piece of hanksite, a yellow cat's eye, and a smoky quartz point. The petalite she kept with her, alongside the nonmagical spessartite.

She felt a jolt of sadness pass through her as she handed the stones off to the Merchant, knowing that they would be destroyed, the potential in them wiped away. She thought of the petalite and the vision and wondered if any of them had similar stories. Fallen to protect another or leaving behind someone they loved.

She gulped and averted her eyes, instead focusing on the crystal. No more finding gemstones - she wasn't doing that anymore. It wasn't right. But she could offer a bit of herself, her own potential. Because that, at least, had a far larger supply and could be offered more. It didn't come to her at first, too frazzled by the experiences she'd just had in the swamp, and she wondered if the Merchant was watching.

...Did she even care if he was?

She took a minute to focus herself back to the task. She still wanted to help out a bit more before she tapped out - there were others helping, after all - so she focused herself on getting her magic to work. It, at last, was finally feeling stronger. IT was like she was on the edge of a threshold, that emptiness in her chest at last filling in with the promise she'd been give.

She breathed out and with it came the spell. What would usually have mentally lifted the crystal instead was simply absorbed into it. Like a tether had been created between them, a weak, one-way link from Wilder to the crystal and she offered the magicka freely.

With that tether created, Wilder maintained, continuing to allow the steady flow of her own magical force into the hungry crystal. It was a strange feeling - her subconscious expected the magic to catch as it usually did, giving her a momentary control over its position without touching, but it instead fed off of her, like being slowly bled from the inside out without the pain. She shivered, but continued to maintain.

The tether between Wilder and the crystal sapping her magic slowed for a moment. Wilder huffed and pushed forward, trying to open it wide again, but there was a sudden snap! in her mind and suddenly the tether was broken and Wilder was taking a step back, breathing heavily. That had felt very strange. She didn't feel physically weaker, like it had literally been draining the life out of her, but it had definitely taken a toll on her reserves.

But she had more to give and if it could replace having to sacrifice more potential lives then..she would.

She breathed again and focused in, latching her magic to the Merchant's crystal again and pulling. It pulled back and the tether opened again, her letting her magical essence flow forward into the crystal, an invisible thread between her and it. It was stronger now, and her magic drained fast and potent.

She didn't break eye contact for fear of breaking the spell, but her whiskers twitch and her ears pointed in the direction of the Merchant. "I hope this isn't a bad idea." She didn't know what they were releasing, what it would do with this magic. It better not be...bad.

Once the spell was complete, she sighed and took a step back. Hopefully, that was enough.

*exit