forest hoarders

[Meow]

Today was rather dull. Feru had saved her master and her home from utter conquest and thanks to a druid named bob and a show fighter named Vic, the cat girl and master magus were back to their ordinary lives. Of coarse this meant more studying for Feru while Khan would work on experiments and check on his feline apprentice to make sure she didn’t wreck anything important. Though the truly important things were out of the kitty girl’s reach.

But all this bookwork was driving Feru nuts. Sitting at the expensive wooden desk that was carved many leaves as if to remind the desk that it was once a tree was just too dull for the kitty girl. Twitching her tail with bored annoyance the cat magus began fidgeting, the magic scrolls that she was reading were beginning to sound like gibberish and nonsense. But while the logic of them was fleeting, Feru’s cat side was seeing something else in them. The way the magic scrolls rustled when the wind would pick up made her ears perk. No she couldn’t take it anymore. All the scrolls flew up into the air as Feru giggled and fell on her back, snatching the falling papers and throwing them up again while she purred.

“Feru!”

Feru stopped for she knew that voice, her master Khan was staring at her with his one seeing eye. The man was intimidating in his red magus robes adorned with gold and the like. The cat girl simply mewed with guilt as she was caught.

“You need to treat your tools with respect.” Khan said slowly while his apprentice cringed, he never would hurt the girl since it would never teach her anything, cats tended to grow afraid of the direct threat instead of what caused it. Instead he had to teach her respect for the tools by having her go out and make some. She would learn.

“I’m sorry Meow!” Feru said as she managed the courage to actually speak. “I won’t do it again, meow, and master!” Feru whined in what was probably a lie since she would play with the scrolls again at sometime in the future.

“Don’t think you’re getting out of this easy. I have a task for you, you need to make a staff out of the wood of a vininzi tree.” Khan tossed Feru another scroll, with a picture of the tree, it looked like an oak tree but the leaves were like spiraling vines. “You won’t want to ruin this scroll. You’ll find a village to the east the keepers of the trees are there and they’ll know where the tree is.”

“Yes Khan…” Feru answered with guilt still in her voice as she went to the portal room.

* *

Feru walked the morning away. The village was still a ways away but Feru was sure she was going the right way. The forest was showing its fall colors with reds and golds all around and a nipping cold that kept Feru’s step rather quick but not bad enough to warrant anything more than her typical dress. Birds hailed and taunted the kitty girl and begged her to chase, but she held her pace and ignored the avian chirps. She knew she couldn’t catch them and Khan would be mad if she gave chase. But Feru still felt some hunger; she forgot to eat before leaving, thanks to the little incident that led to this. But when Feru perked her ears she could hear a stream and a stream meant fish and Feru knew how to use her magic to easily catch fish.

The cat girl skipped towards the little stream, stopped and smiled at her reelection and the fish beneath. A little chanting and a pointed finger led to a small and weak lightning bolt that struck the water and left a couple of fish floating towards the top. Next was to cook them so Feru gathered up some sticks, and remembering the problem with last time she used magic to start a fire, she tried the spark spell again, hoping it would star a fire like a lightning bolt and not blow up the pit like her fireball spell. “Meow, it worked!” Feru cheered as she saw the fire start and she skewered the fish and started cooking. “I hope Khan didn’t give me something that’s too hard to find.”

[Shifter]

A transient youth was making his way through the same area of Concordia as the cat-creature that day. He wore leather gloves to cover his hands and a leather vest over cloth. His eyes were turned up to the sky, glimpsing it between tree branches bursting with rich green leaves. Clouds were rushing past in the high atmospheric wind, their changing shapes painting a tapestry of tales to any subjective observer. The boy was content to stroll aimlessly down the forest’s many trails watching the white masses perform their play for him in the light blue backdrop. A pale half-moon danced behind them, poking out at odd intervals.

Thomas liked Concordia. Close as it was to his Radasanthian home, it was the only place he ever considered going to when life overwhelmed him and the pressures of aon training simply became too much. It was soothing to replace the omnipresent din of Corone’s capital with the sounds of a fauna and flora moving in the vibrant shades of green surrounding him. Tom’s loose-fitting cloth shirt pulled at him with a slight breeze and seemed to be directing him somewhere. Without a pre-determined destination in this maze of trees and foliage, he felt inclined to follow its light draw. A variety of birds seemed to serenade his promenade through the woods as he approached the sound of rushing water.

“Meow, it worked!”

The boy hunched down and looked on from behind a dense bush as a feline-human hybrid preformed some sort of spell to ignite a miniature tent of dry twigs by a flowing stream. His translucent eyes brightened instantly as he saw this, captivated as he always was by the sight of magic. There was something undeniably attractive of the unexplained workings of mages that always peaked his curiosity. He longed to analyze the sparks the female had produced, questioning their origin. If his physical knowledge taught him anything, it was that nothing was born out of nothing. There had to be an equation, a complex formula, to justify this woman’s ability to create an electric discharge from thin air without current or magnetic draw.

Slowly and silently, the boy began to remove his leather gloves, exposing the black circles in the center of both his palms. Simultaneously, his see-through colored eyes began to take a light green shade. A smile grew on his face akin to a child’s when a particularly mischievous thought crosses its mind. Gloves off, he stowed them in a pocket of his leather pants and stood up. His eyes began to shine as he raised his palms toward the girl in the clearing and he willed the air between them to shift. Slowly, the breeze around him picked up and a gust suddenly blew through the clearing and snuffed out the crackling fire in its infancy. Chuckling inwardly, Tom dropped back down behind his concealing greenery and watched the girl with a broad grin.

“Do it again,” he whispered under his breath.

[Meow]

That fish was going to taste so good! Feru was sure that she would have a tasty meal in no time and she always loved fish though she had developed a taste for cooked fish after awhile in being a cat girl. But a cold wind picked up and caused her skin to grow goose bumps.

“Nya! It’s getting really cold, I hope it won’t snow.” Great, The second adventure Feru would go on might be plagued by snow too thanks to a mad warlock wanting to hinder her movements. But why would there be snow this time, an early winter. But this time the little cooking fire started to sputter.

“Meow, No! Don’t go out mister fire! Nya, my fish isn’t cooked, just a little longer!” Feru begged to no avail with nothing but half burned twigs and still a mostly raw fish. The kitty girl’s ears perked up when she heard a noise, a rustle of leaves and some wind and what might have been a whisper or more wind.

“Is somebody there?” Feru asked but only caught silence, the birds and rodents seemed to be hiding or trying to stay warm, a nerve-wracking silence that Feru didn’t like in the least.

“Nyo it’s nothing…” Feru concluded as she went about trying to rebuild the fire, this time going for a bigger fire. “This time will work.” The cat magus assured herself as she began the quick chant to bring forth a fireball and yet it had the same effect as last time she tried the trick, blowing the campfire to smoldering bits and scattering everywhere.

“Meow, I give up!” The unhappy catgirl admitted defeat as she threw the dead water life back to its flowing home.

[Shifter]

There it was! With the selection of a few choice words, the girl succeeded in producing a sphere of fire from the space before her. It was fascinating; pure thermodynamic reaction without even a spark to aid her. What was the source of her words’ power? How had they come to influence the physical words from a mere utterance? Tom had come across others who used incantations for their conjuring and the same plethora of questions that chased each other inside his skull then were now running full tilt again. The illusion was that she could break the rules of the world, but Thomas wanted to know how she had managed it. Did she even know? Most mages’ justification for their tricks often fell short of the convincing. They seemed content that their magic worked at all.

“Forgive me,” Tom called out gaily when he saw the girl toss her catch, breaking the silence the woods had collaborated in making as he stepped into the small clearing. “It certainly wasn’t my intention for you to dispense of your meal.”

Now standing before the female, he realized his actions might have come off as aggressive or spiteful. Suddenly anxious, he raised his hands to show he was unarmed and meant no harm to the part-human, revealing the dark aons on his palms with which he had sabotaged her attempt at a campfire. In his enthusiasm to see her perform more magic, with which she had obliged most diligently, he had been somewhat rude. It had always been so with Thomas in social interactions. It was not that he took pleasure in others’ discomfort, but his constant desire to satisfy his insatiable curiosity blinded him to the consequences of his actions. Wisely substituting his grin for a more somber expression, the transient went on.

“You see, I have my own brand of ‘magic’ and stumbled upon you starting your fire. It was nothing more than an ill-executed act of professional interest that drove me to snuff it out.”

Still looking at her, he moved his hands so that his palms were facing each other before him and knelt down on one knee. With minimal concentration, he manipulated the air particles between his aons and lowered them to the ground. Slowly, the dust and green debris on the forest floor began to stir in a clockwise orientation. After some seconds, a minute tornado appeared, clear as glass, on the floor before Tom. He stood up and gestured at it with his eyes as evidence, its rustling motion generating a light, constant hum that filled the silence. Closing his hands and ceasing the aonic manipulation, he bowed to the unfortunate mage.

“I regret and apologize for making you lose your meal,” he said, all manners now. “My name is Thomas Young.”

He chanced a smile once more as he rose.

“Who might you be?”

[Meow]

Feru’s mind was rather on her lost meal or she might have noticed the other person and even then it was an embarrassment to be taken by surprise and taken Feru was. The kitty girl was still in the crouch as she planed to cook her meal and threw it away as the cry of “Forgive me!” Sent the feline magus to fall over and look at the stranger, stunned with a puffed up tail.

Feru knew the words but they were meant to be used in a calmer tense while the tone they were taken frightened the novice mage. What was he planning? Was he going to attack and kill the girl or worse? Feru mewed slightly as she started shaking, though the odd man seemed to put on a calmer demeanor and thankfully it calmed Feru too.

“Nya?” Was All Feru could say to his explanation of watching her start a fire, it was peculiar indeed for a man to watch her while hidden, tough the magic he showed was quite interesting, a little better than the crude spells that Feru employed, none she had save for one could equal the flash of that one. The kitty ears perked as she went closer, though her hand stayed on her spell book incase she needed to cast something to defend herself. “Meow-wow, isn’t it hard to control magic like that without any runes?” Feru asked feeling her human voice returning.

But she had almost interrupted the man’s introduction with her question and it seemed best to return the favor before expecting an answer. The kitty magus tried her best to get up and courtesy the way Khan taught her. “I’m, meow, Feru Magus. Apprentice to Kahn magus of Blue Tower of meow Concordia.” Feru smiled thinking she answered the question right. “I’m not much of a Magus though, can’t even start a good fire.”

[Shifter]

It was lucky, perhaps, that he should come across someone with such a joyful disposition. Most would have held it against Tom for having caused the cat girl to lose her lunch. Yet, he was met with nothing but curiosity matching his own. He beamed at Feru as she suggested runes might aid him in his manipulation of the physical world. The thought sent a jolt up his spine that concentrated at the base of his skull, making it nearly impossible for him not to laugh out loud with giddiness. How diverse the world truly was! She proposed the runes so matter-of-factly, as if all mages should utilize them in their endeavors, when some had never even heard of them! Settling for a light-hearted chuckle, he allowed his acquaintance to finish with her introduction as she commented on her understated skill.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Magus,” Tom allowed when she was done. “However, if I may be so bold as to contradict you, starting the fire isn’t your problem; it’s keeping it lit. Runes or no, your ability to create spontaneous combustion from thin air with no catalyst or fuel source is quite impressive.”

Thomas’ form of ‘magic’ came from an understanding and clever exploitation of the laws that govern the physical world. His aons, black circles on his palms, allowed the pushing and pulling of particles to suit his needs. Since as far back as he could remember, Tom had been engaged in constant training with his master to better understand the origin and potential of his powers. The result was that his craft was much more refined and visually impressive than what is commonly seen in Althanas at the cost of less destructive capabilities. He far sooner wished to understand the composition of the generic fireball than have the ignorant ability to manifest one at his will. These priorities, of course, were not often shared with the rest of the magic wielding populous.

“Control,” he said in the least patronizing voice he could manage, “is little more than a matter of experience and training. Time will grant you your desired discipline, I’m sure.”

In the pause that followed, Tom squinted and his eyes’ green tint returned to their customary translucent grey.

“So,” he continued with no reference to the change, “what’s a magus like you doing all alone in woods like these, besides attempting to feed on the bounty of their streams?”

[Meow]

It was strange for Feru to be lectured by a partial stranger. Sure she knew his name but she barely knew him and he was giving her a lecture on magic. The kitty magus sat down with a blush and started to lick her hand and wash her face in a feline matter thanks to being nervous.

Control was what he said the cat girl lacked in her magic and he was probably right. But it caused the kitty’s mind to stir with more confusion. Control was the first thing a mage had to have for a mage without control was dangerous. And Feru seemed to prove her lack with the fish fiasco.

It was all so embarrassing that Feru could only blush and mew a little as she looked at Thomas’ eyes in hopes of seeing something. At least what she saw was positive. There wasn’t the harshness of failure or accusing looks, giving the cat girl a reason to sigh in relief as he asked about why she was here. Thankfully Feru had the courage to speak once again.

“Meow, Um… Khan sent me to get the wood of a Vininzi tree and make a magic staff form it. It’s in a nearby village, but I don’t know the name, just the direction.” Feru said with a smile though looking at the ground. Still surprised that a person that she just met was giving her a lecture.