Madhukar was heading back to the shiny room with the big blue rock. She didn't know why. It wasn't part of her plan -- she wanted to stay in Eridanus to figure out the rest of this. She had resolved to figure out how to be in control of it, to know it wasn't going to screw her over and destroy things or people that she cared about. Eridanus was a good place for that, because it made her focus on her surroundings, on being calm. But perhaps staying in Eridanus all this time was getting... was making her paws a little itchy. She wanted to travel. To move.

Usually her travel through this tunnel was... unceremonious. Bland. Just walking through a tunnel, as many creatures did all the time in these caves. It was kind of cold in here; Madhukar hadn't known why earlier but now she was suspecting it was because of the white stuff dotted around in some places in this tunnel. She'd initially disregarded it as 'funny-lookin' rock', which, if you thought about it, was no different from any other rock. All rocks looked pretty weird. But now that she'd learned what it could actually be, now that she'd gone investigating the snow in the shiny room, she could put a name on the stuff. Maybe it wasn't, in reality, an accurate name, but it was at least an actual name besides 'funny-lookin' rock'. The funny-lookin' rock 'snow' should be happy to have it!

As Madhukar padded down the tunnel though, her thoughts on her magic distracted her. She traced a mental path -- paw, chest, paw -- and tried to summon the static to follow it.

Alas, it was weak. Madhukar scowled.

That wasn't gonna work.

Madhukar knew her magic wanted to fight something. She knew that working with it was a whole lot less deadly than working against it. But she also knew that she had a say in this relationship too. The mushrooms had helped her see that! Madhukar would steady her bow; since her static wanted more of a challenge, more outreach, she'd give it one.

'Go!'

The archer fired her arrow. The ground was struck by a strong yet tiny bzzt-! of static. Madhukar smiled. "Thank," she said aloud, not just to herself. To the mushrooms. To the magic.

She moved on, but she wasn't done yet.

Summoning a loud noise in a tunnel did not seem like a good idea, but Madhukar had been in the center of her own thunderclaps for so long, her ears had likely suffered to the point of complacency by now.

She wanted to feel it in her, wanted it to reach outside the tunnels.

What kind of archer fired an arrow of sound? The Madhukar kind!

And fire she did, and make its mark it did, but not as strongly as Madhukar had hoped. Her ears lowered and her expression became mangled with distaste and dissatisfaction. Was it really that upset about not being able to fight something? About just existing for her own enjoyment? That was electricity for you; striving for a purpose. Madhukar, of course, could relate.

Madhukar opened her maw and readied herself, aiming at one of the particularly low-hanging rivulets of 'snow' on the wall.

With a splatter of charged bile on frosty substrate, Madhukar was satisfied she had successfully 'electrocuted' the substance she'd only just come up with a name for. Talk about betrayal.

Madhukar still wasn't done. She wasn't gonna be satisfied until she got that thunderclap to work like she wanted. But perhaps she could build up to it? Her magic still had some fight in it.

The kitten was slowly beginning to realize how much of a creature of habit she was. I mean, take a look at the three spells she'd been practicing on repeat; one sparky, one boomy, one spitty. She'd practiced her static so much, if it weren't for her skill with the thunderclap-making she might as well have been known as a crackle kitty instead of a boom one.

'Well, would you LIKE to try a harder spell?' That was the problem. Making storms took more skill and focus. She wasn't taking a small piece of the power she held, fashioning it into a projectile and flinging it. She was making a whole gosh darn weather system were there wasn't one before. That was hard. Dangerous, in her case, seeing as a storm didn't usually care who it hit as long as it hit what it wanted. That was why she was there, the master of the storm, to tell it where to go. But if she got one little detail wrong, she could probably end up in her rock again. Or at least in a very vulnerable position, which she hated.

The thoughts had already made her step back from the plate. She'd build up to a thunderclap again. No need for greater lightning, or new spells. She would make do with what she had.

The static ran down her left leg, over her immobile paw, and into the ground again. It felt easy now. So simple. Au contraire! So in control.

Next, another bile shot. Madhukar didn't want to overdo it. She never really complained about it, because this was a very controllable offensive spell, but it wasn't exactly comfortable for her body or her mouth. She aimed at another rivulet of snow.

Alas, nothing happened! But the bile had built up, so Madhukar had to let it out. Eugh. Disgusting. And confusing, too. Madhukar moved on, trying to consider what she'd done wrong. Had it wanted another target? GOSH, Madhukar wished it had eyes then, so it could see that there was nothing else around.

Well. That wasn't entirely true.

There was Madhukar.

This was a risk, but one she was willing to take. 'Okay then, blast MY ears off. See if you even can.' She stared at the ceiling for a moment, pausing in her stride.

KABOOOOOM!

Madhukar indeed had to duck and cover her ears. But she was smiling. 'Well done.' She wondered indeed if the electricity cared much for compliments. She knew that she didn't, not really. But she couldn't help being happy.

She'd gotten it to work! She could go now. But, one more thing. Head to tail. It didn't work. Her excitement still hadn't drained. Electricity was such a... buzzkill.

Madhukar kept padding on, having passed the fork in the road. She had no idea where that other tunnel lead to, which was hilarious, because if she hadn't lost her way all that time ago, she would've. Just a turn could take her back there, to the swamp, to the... to the Sniffles. But she didn't know that.

Not yet.

The entrance she was looking for was coming close.

She stood in the entrance -- an exit for her. Static. Head, shoulder, elbow, floor.

So her static was just feeling aggressive. It left her body, tapped the floor, and then it was gone.

And after it left, so did Madhukar.

'TO ME, GEMBOUNDS.'

Huh?

- exit -