[Spiritualist II] Overeager

It had been a week since she had begun her journey to learn magic. 

Avezi had poured hours into studying the scrolls between her work in the West Isle village and tracking. Now that she had a grasp of the concepts of it, she was eager to practice it. 

Empathy for plants. Touch a plant and commune with it. Easy. 

Packing her bag with her notes, a small knife, food, and water, Avezi draped herself in a shawl before slinging the pack over her shoulder and grabbing a shovel. She stepped outside, the thick layer of snow crunching under her paws as she made her way down a shoveled path from her tent. A Drakling and Nyulop kit chased each other in the center of town as she trudged through the snowfall. Their bonds were all but underfoot as the two children’s laughs echoed out, bright and playful as they pelted each other with snowballs. Avezi watched them sprint to the far side of the village, smiling slightly despite herself. At least some were enjoying the snow.

Traveling through the cleared paths, Avezi left town and forged into the nearby forest. The paths became gradually rougher until she was trudging through knee high snow. Today, the snow had stopped falling, despite the slate grey clouds blanketing the skies and the winds still whipping across the island. They had easily gained what she estimated to be a single digit’s amount of snow two days ago, and she was glad for a break in the blizzard. If things kept up, the island would be buried before long.

Despite the stormy skies, Lesser Snowbirds sang their bright melody above the white-topped pines. Icicles sparkled from barren tree branches as Avezi hiked through the snowfall, dripping chilled water on her head as she stopped under a particularly tall pine.

This would do.

With the snow more shallow here, Avezi made quick work of clearing snow underneath the pine. She pushed it to the side, leaving herself a clear patch to the ground beneath. Underneath the snow lay brown grass with a scant few small, struggling sprouts dotted across it and joining them, a single fleet berry bush sprout. Avezi stepped gently around the new growth as she leaned her shovel against the pine tree. It seemed a few had managed to begin to grow before the blizzard struck…

Kneeling next to the bush, Avezi looked over its condition. Very young, and certainly unable to push through the thick layer of snow. If the Thaw had come then…

Pulling her pack to the front, Avezi opened it to pull-

A distant crunch.

Body stilling completely, Avezi’s ears swiveled in the direction of the sound.

One crunch, two. Four sets. Two sets of footsteps, laden by having to fight through the snow. Not a large beast. Her eyes trained on the other side of the clearing, paw resting upon her dagger as she caught sight of movement between the pines.

A light green earth Draken appeared from the trees, followed closely by a familiar grey Leporid.

Immediately, Avezi relaxed her grip on her dagger as the pair walked through the clearing, chatting idly. The Leporid caught sight of her at the same moment, ears perking up as she waved.

“Avezi! Hey!”, Teles called as she and her companion crossed the snow to where Avezi knelt.

“Hello, Teles”, Avezi greeted as she stood. “And…”

“Boo!”, they chirped and waved enthusiastically. “What are you doing out here?”

Avezi gestured back to the small bush. “Practicing magic.”

“Oh?” Teles knelt down next to the sprout. “Are you trying to help it?”

“Wait- we can practice together!” Boo dropped down to the ground as Avezi knelt next to Teles. “That’s what I was working on next- learning to grow plants!”

Teles smiled. “Oh, this is the perfect thing for you to work on together! I’m sure the both of you could make it grow into a full bush.”

Boo seemed confident at least. Avezi nodded, holding uncertain paws out to the sprout as Boo did the same next to her. She hadn’t practiced this skill at all, only practicing trying to channel the mana around her. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, tuning into the mana particles in the world around her, and feeling the plant’s form. Focus on growth, life, as the scrolls had said. Picture the Fleet Berry growing from a humble sprout, to a small bush. She took hold of the mana and gathered it in her chest.

“You’re doing it!”, Teles whispered. Avezi cracked open her eyes to see a pink glow surrounding the small branches of the bush. Needles budded and slowly began to grow. Boo raised their hands next, closing their eyes in concentration as Avezi continued to slowly grow a small branch. Boo’s gem lit up as she took a deep breath, focusing her energy on the Fleet Berry. Another section of the plant began to grow in length, needles sprouting and filling the branch. They were doing it. She really had gotten a hang of magic.

“It’s working”, Avezi spoke, Teles clapping her hands together in excitement. Boo opened her eyes, smiling wide as they looked at the berry bush that was now full of branches and needles.

“Woah- Teles look!” Boo looked at the Leporid, eyes sparkling. “I bet we can make it grow faster.” 

“Boo, maybe you should-” Before Teles could urge Boo to slow down, Boo held both hands up, Boo’s gem glowed a little brighter. With a sudden rush, the branches he was working on suddenly grew to twice their size, yellow flowers bursting into bloom and just as quickly fruiting. The immature plant, all of a sudden carrying more weight than it should at its stage, leaned to one side.

A loud crack broke through the clearing. The Fleet Berry bush snapped on one side.

One, two beats of silence.

Boo’s mouth hung open, Teles looked sheepish, and Avezi simply stared at the bush.

“…Sorry”, Boo mumbled.

Teles gave the earth Draken a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “You just got a little overexcited, it’s okay.”

Avezi stared down at the plant. If she remembered what she had read on the scroll…

Raising her paws and placing them gently on the small bush, Avezi channeled the energy around them carefully. A soft glow emanated from the spot where the branch had snapped off and gradually, the bark regrew to cover the spot and a small stub of a branch reformed. 

Teles and Boo watched, an impressed smile on the Leporid’s face.

Avezi dropped her paws, body feeling heavy. It was still draining to use magic for her.

Boo touched the plant gingerly, whispering an apology to it. “I need to learn how to do that too…” They leapt to their feet, a new energy shining in their eyes. “I gotta study harder!”

They sure bounced back fast.

Grabbing Teles’ paw, Boo all but dragged her up.

“Oh- Alright-“ Teles allowed herself to be pulled to her feet.

“Let’s go, Teles! I need to practice more, and so do you!” Boo dragged the Leporid away from the tree, waving back to Avezi as he did. “Bye Avezi! See you later!”

Shaking her head, Avezi turned back to the small plant. For a moment, she sat in silence, staring at the small blooms on the broken branch.

A small bit of life amongst the snows.

Sighing, she turned to collect her pack.

Should check on the forest while she was there.