|
|
Post by Cascade on May 16, 2014 12:50:22 GMT -5
It was impossible to imagine a longer day. The first hint of a purple sunrise told her that she had only been up twenty four hours, but it felt more like two years. All Peril had wanted was a magical power gifted to her by an immortal wolf, was that really so much to ask? That silly quest had taken them forever, and Peril was especially unenthused by their forced foray into the Forest of Love. More like Forest of freaky magic that makes you notice how weirdly attractive your companion is. Peril sure looked forward to compartmentalizing those feelings. Still, if you're going to do a good deed, who better to do it for than Sheba? Those brownie points might come in handy some day. They might even save her hide.
Speaking of her hide, wasn't there supposed to be some sort of mark to show that she had a power now? She had twisted and turned all the way home, craning her neck to try and spot the flower that supposedly marked her transformation into an unstoppable superbeing, but to no avail. Peril had been too afraid to actually use the power until she was safely back on familiar ground, and now that she and Secunda were home she honestly didn't know where to begin. Was there a magic word she had to say? A certain action to trigger the power? Did she need to believe in the power of friendship to make this thing happen? Seriously, if this entire thing was some sort of prank...
Peril flopped down into the soft grass of the oasis, casting a tired glace up at Secunda. Her tired eyes begged for sleep, but how could she sleep when there was magic to perform?
|
|
|
|
Post by Gyllbane on May 16, 2014 13:17:44 GMT -5
Secunda padded wearily up to Peril, meeting her exhausted gaze and giving her the kindest smile he could muster for being so tired. His entire body was sore from their trek, and he very nearly collapsed as he sat down beside her - traveling he was used to, but twenty-four straight hours of going with only a few pauses, combined with the strange magic of the Mountain would have taken a toll on anyone. He wasn't accustomed to the otherworldly things that seemed to happen with increasing frequency in the Valley, and he didn't know if he'd ever be truly used to it. But, he supposed, he'd have some more familiarity with it in due time - he cast his gaze down to Peril's tattoo, the same flower that had appeared on his thigh adorned the base of her tail. Their trek had not been without its rewards, even if those rewards did come at the cost of more than a few awkward moments that Secunda did not care to dwell on.
He was surprised that Peril hadn't fallen asleep right where she was. As it was, he was having trouble not nodding off himself; he wasn't sure he'd ever been so tired before. He supposed the only thing keeping her awake at this point was the residual adrenaline from the excitement of receiving their respective Powers. He didn't think he'd ever quite forget the weirdly dry, altogether unpleasant taste of the potion Sheba had given him, no matter how many years he lived.
"Do you want to rest before we try out our new gifts?" He asked, his voice louder than he'd expected in the quiet dawn. He stretched his front legs out until he was lying next to her, resting his muzzle on his paws and letting out an enormous yawn. He supposed he'd let her decide; he could use a few hours of sleep, but he wanted to be awake to see what sort of things she'd be able to do with Botany.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cascade on May 16, 2014 13:47:39 GMT -5
The prospect of rest was almost too much to turn down. From across the territory, Peril's den called out to her like a beacon of comfort and shelter from the all-too-bizarre happenings of the previous day. She felt as though right now she could lay down on a bed of sharp rocks and still have the deepest sleep of her life. But...magic. The familiar comforts of home could do nothing against the powerful allure of the unknown, the untested.
"What exactly are we supposed to do?" she asked, embarrassed to be looking to another for help but utterly at a loss as to how these powers were supposed to work. She bent down and stared intently at a blade of grass, "Grow." Yeah, like that was gonna work. She was frustratingly inept and without any sort of manual on what to do, and she didn't expect that Secunda knew much more than she did since he got exactly the same info from Sheba: "Thanks for getting me unstuck! Drink this! Okay, have fun you crazy kids!" So helpful.
The grass sure was soft. The oasis was her favorite place in the Honovi territory, and right now she felt like could collapse into the tall, unruly blades and forget what tiredness felt like. If only she could take just a short nap...the grass would just grow up around her and swallow her up...wait.
With a yelp, Peril flew backwards as she realized that her soothing fantasy was turning into a terrifying reality. The grass was slowly getting long her, wrapping itself around her limbs...not tight like a snare, but like little grass blankets. It's still terrifying when you aren't expecting it though, and it was all Peril could do not to tremble like a pup as plants sprung to motion in a way she had never thought possible. "Wow okay, was that it? I wasn't expecting...okay, that startled me just let me catch my breath for a second here because that was...okay wow." Not her most eloquent statement, but at least she was wide awake now. The grass stopped moving, but it was still longer than before and now slightly curly. It looked like weird alien grass and it was freaking Peril out, even though the smallest twinge of smug satisfaction for having been able to use her power before Secunda managed to work its way in there amongst the flurry of emotions.
She stole a glance at Secunda. Was he impressed? Peril found herself caring about his opinion more than she ever previously had, and that annoyed her slightly. But that aside, it was real. Not only the powers themselves, but the journey that they took now really meant something. It was a small start, but as Peril looked around at the oasis and truly appreciated for the first time the fact that her same power had created it, it was clear that small starts were the beginning of great things.
|
|
|
|
Post by Gyllbane on May 16, 2014 14:16:00 GMT -5
At the grass's - and Peril's - unexpected movement, Secunda jumped to his feet. Well, that was one way to wake someone up. His eyes darted from the plants to the blue wolf, who seemed more than a little frazzled by the grass' sudden attempt to... ensnare her? He wasn't quite sure what she'd been intending to do, but she wasn't hightailing it out of the clearing, so whatever it was, he guessed it had been of her own volition and not more strange Mountain magic of its own accord. Powers and magical white wolves he could handle, but killer grass?
He chuckled at her statement to disguise his lingering nervousness; if Powers were this volatile, who knew what else they could do if not kept in check? The consequences of the mark on his flank had not been lost on him at all, but the real impact of it had not yet set in - this was magic, the untamed magic of the Mountain.
Still, Peril didn't seem any worse for the wear, and he saw her expression change to something almost like awe as she surveyed the manufactured oasis. Their powers were volatile yes, but clearly they were capable of great good. All they'd have to do is learn to harness them properly.
He took a couple steps towards where she'd been lying before her initial fright. The grass was longer, and it looked strange, but it was still grass. "Well, that's interesting. I wasn't aware grass could be so... curly." He grinned back at her, diffusing the tension. "How did you do it? Was it a mental command? Did you imagine the grass growing?" He knew his power had to do with Stone, but Sheba hadn't mentioned exactly how he'd be able to manipulate it. And with Peril having just discovered how to access the Power, it was all he could do not to ask her a thousand questions about it - he didn't want to unnerve her any more than she already was.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cascade on May 16, 2014 15:14:43 GMT -5
Empowered by Secunda's lack of fear, Peril took a tentative step towards the manipulated grass and bent down to sniff it. It didn't smell deadly. She figured that giving away powers that attacked their owners was too devilish a prank even for Sheba, and there was very little that Peril put past Sheba. Was it a lot to handle in one day? Yeah, her sagging eyelids could attest to that. But it was also not more than she could handle, and her gradually normalizing heartbeat could attest to that.
Again, tentatively, she allowed herself to think about the grass at the edge of the oasis, brown and crisp from lack of maintenance. How would it feel to walk on that grass and not have it crunch beneath her paws? How would it feel to breathe life back into those tiny plants? She searched for that feeling and felt it, as difficult as it was to describe, and a tingling grew at the base of her tail as lines of green began to crawl up to the tips of a small patch of brown grass. It wasn't a warmth that she felt in her body, in fact is was more of a coolness. It felt...plantlike, which was slightly upsetting because Peril didn't want to be some sort of crazy "one with the flowers" wolf, but the results of her magic titillated her nonetheless.
The small patch of brown turned into a small patch of green, and Peril felt that her power had been exhausted for the time being. Whether it was because she was so dead tired or whether she needed practice wasn't clear to her, but she suspected that it was a combination of the two. Turning back to Secunda, she shrugged at his question, unable to stop herself from returning his grin with a smile of her own, "I don't really know how to explain it," she said, pawing at the newly-alive patch of grass, "You kind of have to...try to feel what it would be like if the thing were different. And then make yourself feel it." She laughed, and it was equal parts uneasiness and amusement, "Looks like we're freaks for life, so you should give it a whirl and see what you can do."
|
|
|
|
Post by Gyllbane on May 16, 2014 16:00:49 GMT -5
Secunda's eyes widened a bit as he watched the patch slowly turn from brown to green; Peril's concentration was evident, and he noted - with less surprise than he expected, given all that had happened to day - the mark at the base of her tail glowing a dim green. It faded as she ceased her efforts and looked over at him, and he wondered if his would do the same when he dared to try his own.
"Freaks for life?" He replied, cocking his head as he came over to inspect the grass she'd magicked back to life. "I don't know if 'freaks' is the right word. Gifted, maybe. But anyone who can do this-" he indicated the newly-green patch, the new life she'd wrought. "-deserves a more positive title than freak." He laughed, then wondered if perhaps he'd said a bit too much. He didn't want Peril thinking of herself as a freak, even if it was in a somewhat joking manner; he'd grown far too fond of her during their trek. She was no longer just the oddly competitive wolf who'd welcomed him into the Honovi - she was Peril, and though he had learned many things about what she was, a freak she most certainly was not.
"Alright," He continued, hoping she wouldn't dwell on the subtleties of his compliment for too long, "Let's see what I can do, then." Near them, the grassy patch faded into hard, untilled earth, dusty and mostly barren. Small stones littered the dry ground, and he focused in on one, a pebble the size of one of the pads on his paw - he doubted his fatigue would allow him to handle anything larger than that - and thought, as Peril had said. He thought about how the stone looked, its texture, how much it weighed. He thought about how much force it would take to move it - and suddenly the stone twitched and skittered towards him, stopping just short of his paws. He didn't jump this time, but he flinched, clearly unused to stones suddenly moving on their own. He glanced at Peril, a bit bewildered, but mostly relieved that he was able to perform magic without causing an accident.
"Well, it's not as impressive as bringing dead plants back to life, but it's a start."
|
|
|
|
Post by Cascade on May 16, 2014 19:37:16 GMT -5
Peril searched Secunda's face for signs of insincerity. She had been half-kidding, but beneath that was a small amount of real self-doubt. All this time she had been thinking of what these powers would do for her pack, and she hadn't stopped to think about what they would do to her. And now, after it was too late to go back, she was finally thinking about it and not sure she was one-hundred percent okay with it. This wasn't just something she was using, after all, it's something she was now, and something she would be until her death. But Secunda was right there with her, along for the ride no matter how good or bad, and that more than anything else comforted her. They had started as strangers, but now they were the only ones who really fully understood each other...as far as this crazy adventure went, at least. There were still things about her that Secunda didn't know, and there was a pretty safe bet that the reverse was true, but now she actually wanted to learn more about him.
She was spending too much time in her head, and if she kept it up she had an irrational worry that she might snap out of it find herself being devoured by a giant venus fly trap or something. 'Oh god, don't think about it, it might actually come true,' she thought, frantically trying to push the mental image from her head before any tendrils started creeping towards her. Secunda's demonstration of his own power proved to be an effective distraction, and despite seeing plants spring to life just moments ago, the sight of rocks moving on their own wasn't any less disconcerting. That kind of thing just plain wasn't supposed to happen.
His comment about her power being useful struck a particularly funny chord in her. "You're right," she said with an earnest chuckle, "If someone ever attacks us, you can flick pebbles at him while I tickle him to death with flower petals." Okay, she let herself indulge in that mental image a bit, and to her relief her powers stayed quiet about it. Once again, she scanned the oasis and truly appreciated its size as she glanced back down to her little, paw-sized patch of green. "This is going to take a lot of work," Peril muttered, more to herself than to Secunda, "it must have taken them a lot of work."
|
|
|
|
Post by Gyllbane on May 16, 2014 23:20:33 GMT -5
He let out a genuine laugh at her description of their supposed attack strategy. "Truly, we are the most menacing wolves in the Valley." He hadn't even begun to consider his power as a defense mechanism - it was still newfangled and strange, and he could already tell it would take plenty of time for him to grow accustomed to it.
It really was remarkable, now, having experienced his power firsthand and then comparing it to the scale of the Oasis - there was much more work involved than he'd ever imagined, and he appreciated it even more now that it had been brought into perspective. He wondered if he'd be able to contribute as Peril would doubtless be able to; the stony outcroppings of the packlands had no place in the Oasis, but he supposed in time - once more work had been done on the Oasis - he'd be able to figure out some way to be useful.
"Undoubtedly." He replied to her quiet musing, though he wasn't quite sure it had been meant for him. "But we won't be able to do that work unless we get some rest." He approached her, his shoulder barely brushing hers - it felt right, like a familiar gesture he'd done before - and gave another, rather sudden yawn, proving his point. "We should probably head back to the dens." He looked to her for approval; surely she was just as tired as he was, and with the initial shock from Peril's unexpected discovery of her powers beginning to wear off he was starting to feel even more tired than he had been previously.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cascade on May 16, 2014 23:55:18 GMT -5
Yesterday Peril would have balked at the touch, but a lot had happened in twenty-four hours. She wanted to say that they were friends now, but the word felt wrong to her. Her brain was far too tired to parse the complexities of relationships, though, so she was happy to just think of him as Secunda for now. Happier to think about her warm, inviting den, but Secunda was a pretty close second.
"Let's go," she said, reluctantly standing up on legs wobbly from exhaustion, "let's get some sleep." No amount of magical powers could sound better than sleep right now. She semi-consciously leaned against him as they turned toward the direction of the dens and began the short trek back to the cluster of boulders they called home. Damn that forest.
|
|
