Polaris was a place she'd never been. It was nice, though- the glow felt enchanting across her pelt, and she hummed softly with the feeling of magic coursing through the air. How nice it was to finally calm down, how great it was to sober up in the cold feeling of river running under her.

She inhaled slowly, then let out her breath. Hargrave had come through here- she didn't have the object permanence of a child, sure, but she still felt a string of nervousness take over her after losing her girlfriend. Girlfriend... Right? Ogh, that was a bag of worms right there. Friend, yeah, but could she even consider Hargrave that way without asking her?

How would she even ask? Her throat clammed at the thought of it, and she looked to the side in an attempt to shove it all down deep within her. Turning her mind elsewhere would be best.

Inhaling deeply, she summoned up something- anything from her gem, seeking to not be so alone in the moment for now.

The wisp drove her to jump when it appeared in the air, the faint blue tilting and moving to swirl around her. How pretty... Null hummed and shut her eyes for a second, moving to touch her nose to it.

How interesting. It swirled again, and she followed it with hopping movement, still adjusting to her new stance. Was it lonely? She'd birthed it from her magic... What about another one? In the edge of her vision, the second manifested and began to swirl around the first, the two dancing in a tango around her neck.

The softest of giggles rose from her voicebox. How pretty her children were!

She sobered quickly from the excitement, dread dawning upon her at the word of 'children'. No- nonono, she was a child once, and these things didn't think. She sighed out softly, giving mind to hold the flames in her paw but without the extra one to give balance, all she could do was follow them as they fluttered to the distance.

While her eyes were on them, her foot slid down a cliff of a shore. Shoot! Panic fluttered in her chest and she shot her magic out to do- something! Catch herself, maybe!

The surface she landed on was cold, cold water- not rushing, but solid enough to stand. The wisps seemed to giggle at her misfortune and she shot a glare to them, carefully untangling herself from her downfall to bring herself back to a sensible position. How would you like it? She goaded mentally at them, her mouth offsetting and fangs pushing forward.

Well, fine. She had water here to attack at them too, rearing back like a hunting arctic fox and slamming down on the ice to produce a spike of it upwards towards them. The rush of chilled air that arrived with the force of it coursed up and shoved one wisp into the other, the two of them passing over like layers of an artist's canvas. Blegh.

But... She felt a bit of remorse at that. Sorry, she mumbled in her mind, sheepishly drawing her head back into her fur. She didn't need to be so angry at them- they were her extensions, after all.

Huffing, she turned to scramble up to safe land, struggling with the angle with only three paws before finally managing to crest the top of it.

Her tongue lolled out in a pant as she sat, her tails curling around her and giving her paws some needed warmth. That ice- while useful- was cold, and she shivered at the feeling of her sole remaining front paw curling into the substrate of the ground.

At least she could warm herself up, but it was too bad that she couldn't use the ice to possibly make a new limb. No- no pity party, c'mon Null. She bent her head down to sniff at her paw before licking her warm tongue over it. She'd be fiiine.

The wisps trailed in the corner of her vision, still simply dancing. Her eyes rolled to them and she tilted her head. Fine, she seemed to say, smiling softly. Are you still just as alone as me? It was easier to draw into herself to try and summon a third and final wisp.

The final wisp flipped into view, and Null's eyes traced it. They were so pretty, so pretty as they joined its friends. Carefully, she went back to her feet, following the last new one while the last two trailed over her swaying tails.

In the distance, a gathering caught her attention, and she abandoned her following to hop-walk over to them, instead. The wisps could follow on their own.

;exit to Ascension