[PRP] The Science Times (Kaleb/???)

[Grey Dragon]

Stumbling across the old, abandoned pool on the other side had been Kaleb's lucky break. It was a large rectangular pool in an old backyard, choked with debris and detritus but somehow still holding most of it's water. He had almost fallen in trying to check the depth of it a couple weeks earlier, but once he had cleaned up the grime it had become a useful tool.

Today was his seventh visit to the pool in the past ten days. By now his 'research kit' was entirely put together, and piece by piece he pulled the items out and laid them out and ready next to the pool. A notebook, a towel, a tape measure, and a sharpie, for this set of observations that was all he needed.

Leaning over the edge of the pool, he carefully cleaned and dried a portion of the pool's inner frame with the towel, and made an equally careful mark on the faded blue liner with his sharpie, right above the waterline. Then he got out his notebook, and began adding the date and time to a list of previous entries. Time for Science.

Ashdown Whaler

For part 2 of Motequest! @o@

 

[azuredreams]

The water was dark today, unnaturally still even as there was a breeze blowing through the air. Perhaps it was time for Kaleb to try some magic?

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb was too focused on what he was doing to notice the discrepancy between the stillness of the water and the currents in the air. He did what he had done every time, summoned a spherical shield underneath the surface of the water, expanding it until he reached the limit of his skill and the water level had ceased rising.

He let go of the magic with a sigh and the water sloshed back down into the space the shield had been occupying. Kaleb leaned over the edge of the pool once more, and used the sharpie to mark the damp line left in it's wake.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Some of the water, when it was splashed out, settled upon the edge of the pool. It ... bubbled? as if the ground underneath it was super heated.

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb heard the sizzle, and his first instinct was to get farther away from the phenomenon. Scrambling back to his feet he surveyed the area, looking for anything, magical or otherwise, that would have caused the unusual bubbling.

After a second of silent observation he began to creep closer to the strange water puddle, slowly, and testing every gentle step for heat that might put him in danger.

The measurements could wait since he had already marked his lines, but would this strange occurrence actually disrupt the test and render the data unusable?

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

The heat was obvious once he got close enough and he would sense it - the feel of magic just under the surface of where the water was quickly evaporating away.

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

When he got close enough to feel the heat in the air, and sense the subtle heat of the magic itself under the ground, Kaleb stopped. That magic would definitely be the source of the heat, but what was the source of the magic?

"Hello?" He finally called out, glancing around to see if he could spot someone or something different, all the while hoping the magic's source was simply another person like himself.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

There was no response but the heat spreading out further, tiny cracks beginning to appear in the ground.

... as slight vibrations began, though they were very clearly localized to just around Kaleb.

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

What had been nagging wariness quickly escalated to full-blown alarm as signs of the potentially dangerous magic grew stronger. Without stopping for any of his things, Kaleb began backing up in as much of a hurry as possible while still keeping an eye on the place where the heat and cracks originated.

Nearly stumbling as his foot slid from ancient pool patio to overgrown lawn, he backed right up until he could feel the yard's old fence at his back.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

As quickly as it began, the cracks began to recede and disappear. The ground no longer heated and-

-the water that evaporated was reappearing? Instead of bubbling off as it had before, being heated up, it was simply pooling on the ground, some of it returning back to the pool.

The vibrations faded as well, though they were localized only to where Kaleb had been before he moved away.

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb thought he had gotten used to the idea of other Ashdown being just plain weird at times, but this was stranger than most. The smart thing to do would be to leave the place, towels and markers and rulers could all be replaced. But his notebook... He was determined to get that back. And maybe indulge his curiosity in the process.

Slowly he stepped towards the area once more, to see if that strange magic was reacting to his presence.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

It did not.

Instead the water in the pool reacted as if Kaleb was performing his 'experiment' again- sloshing against the sides before it settled.

... and a spherical shield appearing within the water, that held for the exact count of beats Kaleb had held it, before it too dispersed.

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

This was quickly becoming a mystery that Kaleb wasn't sure he could unravel. But his magic had interacted with something, and as he watched the replay of his own test he decided to try something else.

Kaleb summoned up a smaller shield bubble, this time only half submerged in the water.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

It did not replay but Kaleb's newest mark was gone, only the old one remained.

There was still a strange sense of magic in the air, the air heavy and humming with it. Something glimmered, sparked really, right under the surface of the water briefly.

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Belatedly, Kaleb recognized something that had been off since the beginning of the strange situation. It was the brief sparkle under the water that drew his attention to it. He had finally noticed how still the water was, and was briefly shocked that he had gone so far as to lean over the edge of the pool earlier without even noticing it.

His brows furrowed as he thought hard about what was going on. Something magical had happened, he had no doubt the heat and tremors were related to the repeat of his own shield under the water's surface, but neither his physical approach or new magic seemed to have any other effect.

Cautiously he headed back to the side of the pool, and sat down next to where his bag and things had been laid out. He made no further movements, just sat in place and watched the water to see if anything new would happen.

azuredreams