There was a transparent gemstone chrysalis jutting out of the wall of Tunnel I. It had been there for about a cycle, and now it was clearly about to break apart, judging by the feathers pressed up against its now confining walls. Sweet, dreamless sleep slowly bled out into first consciousness as the bird inside awoke. They looked out upon the world from the warped perspective of a jagged, flawed crystal. The cockatiel began to chirp madly in excitement. There's a thing! That's a thing! What's that? Must see! they thought, beginning to struggle against the walls of the chrysalis in an attempt to escape.

With a particularly strong stretch of their wings, the chrysalis that they'd been dependent on for so long shattered, sending the cockatiel gliding to the ground. They panicked, flailing in the air, which only caused them to fall faster as their outstretched wings left the proper position for gliding. The cockatiel hit the cold, hard ground with a muted thump. "Owie.." they said, standing up and peering around to check if anything was injured in the fall. Determining that there wasn't, the young gembound began to hop towards one of the walls, going to examine it to see if there was anything interesting.

Envy was pattering back towards home, green-tinted tail raised. Although a shard of hunger was beginning to gnaw at the edge of their stomach again, exhaustion pulled them onwards, keeping their limbs steadily moving. The weasel thought bitterly back to how strong they'd felt just a short while ago, so wonderfully full of magic and energy. Now, their malnourishment had caught up to them again, causing their stubby limbs to feel leaden, and a familiar nausea slinking back into place.

It was only after they'd passed by that the weasel heard a familiar crack. They looked back, an expression of exhausted exasperation taking hold on their face.

They knew that sound. It was the sound of trouble, but also potential reward. Right now, they couldn't decide which. With an exasperated sigh, A shimmer of blue, and then a texture of dappled brown, like moss, crept over their fur. Then, the weasel set off after the sound. A small cry reached their rounded ears, and they slun closer, taking place on a small rock nearby. They continued to debate with themselves. What to do, what to do... Kids were trouble, but potentially easy subjects for a budding king such as themselves. But they could also be jackasses, and little brats not worth the time of day.

Envy continued to watch, thinking.

But, they supposed. If this kid decided to be a brat, there was nothing stopping them from leaving if things turned sour. Envy slunk forward, shedding the mossy texture from their fur.


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"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Heart-song
notes: here

The young cockatiel turned at the sound of feet on stone, looking around for the unknown noise. "Hi?" they asked. "Where are you? Who are you?" They narrowed their eyes as a patch of moss on a rock slinked forward, slowly changing colors until it looked more like a creature than grass. They stopped, eyes widened in wonder and surprise.

"That was amazing!" they said, walking closer. "How did you do that? Can you teach me how?" Any thoughts of what exactly the newcomer was and why it was pretending to be moss drifted away in favor of investigating how, exactly it could turn into moss.

@Envy

Envy couldn't help but smirk, the little one's eagerness easing their exasperation slightly. It seemed that this kid was one of the good ones. "I'm Envy! And I'm right in front of you," they tittered proudly, rising up tall onto their hind paws and spreading out their forepaws in a gesture of grandeur. The weasel readied themselves for their usual drill- build the hopes up, earn their approval, become a strong and great leader of many! A true god-king.

Their future greatness was dependent on this.

Envy shuddered with eagerness and when they spoke, it was with almost as much enthusiasm (Albeit, suppressed) as the little one. "Not so fast, little pincushion! It takes a looooot of hard work to earn powers like mine." they placed a paw on their chest, tail twitching eagerly from side to side. "But maaaaybe, I could, y'know... get you started. If you earn it, that is."


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"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Heart-Song
notes: here

They practically vibrated with excitement, tilting their head slightly upwards to meet Envy in the eyes. "You'd really teach me? I can learn to do cool things too?!" They began chirping with excitement, flapping their wings and doing a mini victory dance. At least, until the last part of Envy's words caught up with them. They sat down obediently. "What do I have to do to prove myself?" they asked, 'teacher' all but added on.

@Envy

"Of course! anyone can do cool things with the right teacher," Envy purred, resting a paw on their chin in a clear hint as to who that teacher could be. They were, after all, a magickal prodigy. Not that they were particularly good at sharing.

Envy grinned, their ears perking as they considered their plan of action. it seemed that their role was already settled. They let out a hum, long and low, as though in deep consideration. "Well, my student. It takes a smart little gemling to choose such a good teacher. But to be truly strong, you'll need a good king, too." they glanced sideways at the little bird, eyes full of suggestion. "Follow me, and you'll learn magic beyond your wildest dreams."


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"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Heart-song
notes: here

They thought about this. Envy was saying that they would be both a teacher and a king to them. Well, the teacher part was settled (they couldn't wait to learn cool tricks like turning into moss!) but the king part? Being under a king?

Well, wasn't a king just a leader? And a teacher was a leader too, right? So Envy was asking if they wanted to be under a leader to learn cool magic... which they had already decided. Besides, Envy said that they were a good magickal teacher, and that the young cockatiel was smart for choosing them. They liked being complimented like that. They wanted to earn more compliments like that. With that in mind.. "I'll follow you! I want to do magic like that too!"

@Envy

Envy clasped their paws together eagerly, the words never failing to send a thrill down their spine that got the fur there bristling. They were really starting to pull through! Their plan was really working! They were gonna be a king! If only Reseda could see them now! "Excellent!" A searing pang of bitterness sent them grinning venomously the the thought of Reseda. The stupid lizard was gonna be kicking herself that she missed out on such a great opportunity!


"Alright, No time like the present! Let's go!" the y shrilled excitedly, dropping to all fours and darting in a small circle on the spot. With some of the nervous energy relieved, Envy rose to their hind paws and paced in a circle to think. "New to magic, I take? First, we gotta figure out what you've got." Envy began to circle the little chick, humming curiously. "Try concentrating- hard. The key is to find out where your magic is. then you've gotta... pull it out into the real world. You'll know it when you find it."


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"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Heart-Song
notes: here

They nodded, narrowing their eyes as they concentrated, repeating Envy's words quietly. "Concentrate... find where my magic is... pull it out into the real world." As they started to focus further, their attention was drawn towards the side of their neck. That spot felt like it had the most magickal energy. They tilted their head as they attempted to pull the magic out into the real world.

A soft buzzing sound filled the air around the young gembound as the spell surged into life. They held the spell like that for a few moments longer before giving into their excitement. They trilled excitedly as the spell rapidly faded away, flapping their wings and running around in circles. "I did it! First try and everything!"

@Envy

"That's right!" coaxed Envy encouragingly, although in their head they were preparing a reassuring speech, ready for the newborn's inevitable failure. No-one, save for them, had ever managed to cast magic on the very first time. At least, that's what they wanted to believe. Secretly though, they were slightly interested to see what the young one could produce. Maybe it would even be something they hadn't seen before.

"Don't worry if you don't get it, though. Hardly anyone gets it on the first- wait, wha?" Envy had begun to look around, seeking out the annoying bee or insect that had begun the low hum, but it didn't take them long to notice the low thrum of magick on the air. The weasel looked taken aback, seeming to deflate slightly. Their jealously-guarded balloon of self-importance shrank. "O-oh..."

Great, we've got another prodigy on our hands, they thought jealously. But they forced the grin back to their face. They shook themselves. It was indeed a spell that they hadn't seen before. An element they hadn't seen before, even. Controlling sund could be useful in its own right, but that kind of buzz- well, they thought it was a little boring, to be honest. Still, they carefully laid the knowledge aside to perhaps practice later.

In the meantime, Envy clapped their paws together silently, making a display of utmost appreciation. "Yes, yes! That's it! Magic! Doesn't it feel good?"


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"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Heart-song
notes: here