[PRP] Daffodilly dallyin' (Shiloh & Kaleb)

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb recognized some of the places they passed through, although streets here and there were still unfamiliar to him on this side. Like in Ashdown proper, he was not one to wander far during his visits, preferring to stick to a small and familiar territory he knew well enough to feel comfortable.

"A friend... like that thing that took us back from here the first time we met?" Kaleb asked, thinking about back when it was still rainy. That had been his first time actually ending up on this side rather than simply dreaming of it, and it had been quite the shock.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Shiloh laughed, "Nah, she isn't like Beel. Beel's a fetch." He kicked a stray rock towards the gravely sand of the shore. "Fetches are... dead people, basically. The magic rotted away their bodies to make them look like that." He looked at Kaleb, eyes glinting, "But they can shapeshift, sort've, take the faces of humans who're living. It's uh... complicated." He scratched the back of his head, "And a long story, but I could tell you about it if you really wanted to know."

He shrugged. Court was kind of really ******** up.

"Noeh though." His expression brightened a little, "She's nice, just mute. I know a little sign so we can still talk though."

Bean continued to squeak and chirp, apparently confused by this sudden influx of information on things it didn't care about.

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

"That... Magic can do that to a person?" Kaleb asked, slipping back into borderline freaked out territory. Shiloh had very definitely implied that there was more than one dead person out there, potentially wearing someone else's face. And whether the magic rotted them away before or after death...

Today was apparently the day to learn and process all sorts of terrifying information.

The freckled youth was not so sure he wanted to go to the beach to practice magic anymore, instead he felt a strong desire to go home, curl up in bed with a book, and read reassuringly normal, logical things about nature. Plants maybe, plants were normal.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Well ********..." He struggled for a good metaphor, "Well it's like... too much of it can be a bad thing, I guess. Fire's great 'cause it's warm and it cooks food and makes energy, right? But if you let it get out of control, then it can hurt people, but it doesn't stop people from using it." He shrugged, "Fetches came from way before you or me. I don't think we're in any danger of spontaneously shifting into one. I can't say that magic is totally safe though." Court and Blackfrair's was proof enough.

"I mean, magic made Bean." Bean squeaked, its "eyebrows" scrunched up in something like concern. Apparently it could process emotions at least. "And Bean's pretty cool. I'm kinda half looking into a way to help the fetches out anyway. Not... all of them are from magic itself." He frowned, "A lot of them are made through the Court. I'm... kinda working on that too." He sighed.

"It's just one of those things that can be a really good thing s'long as you respect it, that's all." He nodded.

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb nodded slowly, letting the explanation sink in and soothe raw nerves. There were many things in the world that could be both incredibly beneficial and incredibly harmful, and it just needed some care and consideration to maintain a positive outcome. Besides, Bean was pretty neat.

"Do you know much about things that live on this side, stuff that's made of magic?" Kaleb asked, already sounding a little less shaky. "I met a thing called Gloom, but it was on the other side. Or... at least... I think it was on the other side." Kaleb frowned, looking back at that weird ride he still wasn't sure what had happened. "Is it possible that things from over here can wander to our side?"

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"You met Gloom too?" He perked up, though not in a pleased sort of way; just surprised, "I haven't seen him in a while, honestly. Actually..." Shiloh's eyes looked upwards as he tried to recall, "Sorry, my memory is like—anything from before the summer is kinda fuzzy for me." He didn't elaborate, "But it was before I even knew I was magic. I met him walking home in the middle of the night."

His eyebrows shot up, "He stole one of my beanie pins, now that I think about it." And then he looked grumpy, "What a jerk..."

He shrugged it off. "Anyway, I know a little bit about Othercreatures, I guess. There's a lot? More than you could ever imagine." He nodded, "There's this really pretty place called the garden, and I met a tree spirit named Wis there. She was really kind. Gloom is... Gloom. I guess there's The Peaceful One and The Prideful One, but they were humans once before they became... deer people." He seemed disgruntled at the thought. "And I guess these guys now." He looked at Bean, who seemed very proud to be acknowledged.

"Anyway, some of them can cross over, yeah." He rolled his shoulders, "I met Gloom on the Otherside. Court kind of keeps them in check though. Makes sure they don't ******** with humans and that humans don't ******** with them."

All-Seeing came to mind too, but he didn't bring that one up for the sake of Kaleb's sanity.

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb nodded again, with a bit more enthusiasm. Apparently the creature had left him with a more favourable impression. "Yeah, it was kinda weird, I wasn't expecting him to show up when he did since I thought I was on our side. I'm glad people told me about him first, I would have been really scared otherwise."

He was silent as Shiloh explained some of the intricacies of otherworld creatures. There was yet another example of people turning into... things, but since he hadn't met the deer people he couldn't exactly be afraid of that fate.

"What about things like the shadows and whispering things and stuff? I haven't run into many since it stopped raining, but they must still exist, right? It's weird, I don't know if I can feel magical creatures yet either..." Kaleb frowned, thinking hard, but he offered no further comment on feeling magic.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"That... sounds slightly concerning." Shiloh admitted, "I haven't met whispering shadows anyway, but I guess I'm not surprised they're here. Being a Noble is like—Othercreatures kind of respect you? Sort of. Maybe a little more than usual." Especially having been one of Melany's tithes, though he hadn't run into many of them. "But I would think they still exist, yeah. I mean..." He tried to collect his thoughts.

"The world might've shifted because of the sigil, but it shouldn't have affected the Otherworld much. It's weird that it stopped raining, but the denizens shouldn't be that much different. I mean, the deer triplets shifted around, but... they're kind of special. Like, the sigil we made is kind of held together by three different people—the principals—and if they die, then it... sort of means trouble for our world, right? As far as I understand it, the deer siblings are like that but for here." He looked around the stony beach.

"But that stuff is really... complicated." He shrugged, "I don't know many people who can sense Othercreatures either." He tilted his head at Kaleb, "I think that'd be a specialized sort of thing. Maybe if you worked at it? I dunno. Magic is way different for everyone."

He frowned at Kaleb's frown, wondering what he was thinking. "You know, though, I can answer anything you might have a question about. Or try." He scratched the back of his head, "Are... you okay? Sorry if I freaked you out earlier."

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

"No, it's... it's okay," Kaleb replied, trying to convince himself as much as Shiloh. "Learning about magic stuff, it's like having to re-learn physics and chemistry and whatnot all over again but with different rules. It's a lot to take in... I haven't even been here a year but last summer feels like it was forever ago."

He dug his toe into the stones underfoot, pushing one over with a heavy click sound. "I don't think I even know what to ask anymore. I want to learn, but it's like trying to learn to swim by being dropped somewhere out there and told to get back to shore somehow." He waved one hand out across the water to emphasize his point. "I can't tell if I'm sinking right now, or just heading in the wrong direction."

With a sigh he sat down amongst the small rocks. "Sometimes just working at something isn't good enough."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

He nodded.

"I was really scared and confused when I tried to learn about it too." He admitted quietly as he took a seat next to Kaleb. "Sometimes I regret trying to learn as much as I did. Other people I know embrace it. I just wanted to know magic so I could protect my friends. My boyfriend became a moonwalker and I felt so useless watching him—stuff like that, y'know?"

"Now I'm a Noble, and it feels like I can just... reach out and grab the magic around me sometimes, it's really tangible." He shrugged. "But I mean, I guess I get feeling lost."

He was silent, listening to the empty echo of the waves. Bean settled down in his lap, content to settle its head on Shiloh's knee to watch the scenery. "I wish I was a better teacher..." He tapped Bean's head, "There's gotta be something though. I mean, you are magical, 'cause you're here, so..."

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb had heard something about nobles before, it seemed like a thing most of the magical community knew about. Being late to the game, he had always been too nervous to ask anyone for an explanation. He wasn't sure if he was ready to ask Shiloh about it yet either, he got the impression it came with a lot of complicated emotions, and didn't want to bring up unpleasant things. So he let it pass once more.

"Yeah, I... Jeremiah helped me figure out how to do something magical over here, but I'm still just a normal person on our side," he admitted. "I'm not very good at it yet though, which is why I try to practice while I'm here... But I have no idea if I'm doing anything right. All I can do is just keep repeating things. There's not even any books I can learn things from, it's hard going into it blind."

Kaleb did feel a little more relaxed, maybe it was just being told it wasn't crazy to feel lost and scared under the circumstances. Maybe he felt better having admitted it all without being judged poorly for it.

He sighed again, lighter this time, and glanced over at Bean. He couldn't detect any trace of magic when he concentrated on the little creature, nothing stood out like spells or portals did.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Shiloh contemplated this thoughtfully. "There's a library," He said after a while, "In the Otherworld. I've only ever heard about it? I've never actually tried going, but there's a bunch of stuff in there about all the past cycles and stuff." He rolled his shoulder awkwardly, "Sorry, I might be being kinda literal here with the book thing. There might be something in there that could help teach though. Um, I know a man named Liam too—he teaches the magitech courses at the college, but he hasn't been around..." That left what, Renard? He wasn't so sure he wanted to recommend Kaleb to Renard though. Maybe Sonny. He scratched the back of his head.

"I don't think there's a right way to do magic though. I guess that might make it more frustrating too though." He huffed quietly, "A lot of my magic... I guess just sort've came to me." He knew that didn't help much either.

Bean meanwhile was very enthusiastic about the attention he was receiving, even though he noticed it only belatedly. He wiggled a little before waving up at Kaleb again.

"A lot of times when I cast," Shiloh picked up again, his face relatively neutral, "I don't... Like, I don't just go, 'plant, grow'," He pointed at the ground. Nothing happened, "I have to like... visualize how I want it? Some people can cast like that, just with pure conviction and commands, but I have to like... feel the shape out, imagine the colors, piece it together... kinda like drawing?"

He cleared his throat, "Like... some clovers." The air started to shimmer, "They're kinda poofy, right? Like a cloud you'd just wanna lay your head on, and they're really green. The kind of green you see when you know it's spring." Suddenly the earth started to give way into a small bushel of delicate looking leaves, "And they have three leaves, usually, but I can picture the four leaf ones, trace the lines like, with my mind, and..."

...And there it was, sitting on top of the tiny conjured bundle; a four-leaf clover in all its glory.

"I guess it mostly boils down to belief, though." He frowned, still obviously thinking.

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb gave Bean a little smile and wave in return. It must be nice to be a little thing who only had to explore the world. He stopped trying to sense any magic in the creature, whatever innate magic it had was thoroughly hidden.

However, when Shiloh began to create the little patch of clover, he did sense the magic. Even without using his physical senses to examine it, the magic gathering where the air shimmered was a little bit like sunlight. Warm and bright, as though coaxing the little sprouts to grow. The shape formed by the magic was hard to distinguish at first, but then it was quickly filled by the sprouted leaves. It was beautiful and incredible.

"That's... amazing," he murmured, noting that the nebulous magic begun to disperse back into the air once the final four leaf clover had sprouted. "Do you draw? Jeremiah had me try creating a bubble that could act like a shield, but it wasn't solid at all until I made it... uh. Bond together. Like diamond, rather than a soap bubble. He said I could use what I knew to make magic work."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Shiloh grinned, "The plants are uh, what I got after I became a Noble." He nodded, "I can do other stuff too, but that comes the easiest for me."

He leaned back on his hands, Bean flailing to grip onto Shiloh's leg anxiously even though the movement wasn't that bad. It just got startled easily, apparently, "I can draw, yeah. It's like, probably my biggest hobby ever." He was still smiling as he sat up straight again, "That's actually something else I was working on, like..." He focused hard, and then with his fingertip managed to draw a line in midair. It shimmered like light, but the form wavered before breaking. Shiloh still seemed pleased with it though. "I'm trying to get good enough to write my name." He confessed.

The clovers shifted pleasantly against the backdrop of the ocean.

"I figure if I can figure out how to draw without paper 'n pens and s**t, then I can be better about drawing stuff like, runes on the fly." He scrunched his nose up, "Not that I really know any..." Aside from the one he used to lock everything, anyway.

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

There was that noble thing again. Kaleb still didn't ask, this time it was Bean's flailing that provided the appropriate distraction. Apparently even the startling of the little sprout was enough to startle Kaleb too, like a parent suddenly on alert for a toddler's imminent fall.

He relaxed just as quickly when it became clear the little thing was in no danger of falling off. It was a good thing too, or he might have missed Shiloh's next magical demonstration. Kaleb could feel the magic gathering into the line even as he saw it appear in the air.

"That's amazing, I don't know about runes, but it would be pretty useful to be able to take notes without needing a pen and paper." Kaleb grinned lopsidedly. "It's really incredible, it was like you were pulling all the magic into the line like... Like focusing a prism or something!"

The freckled teen mimicked the motion with enthusiasm. "You just-"

His mouth fell open at the small trail of golden-white light that flowed behind his finger, before fading like an afterimage. It didn't match the brightness or duration of Shiloh's light, but it had undeniably appeared.

Melancholies

Aaaaah! Haptic Interface buddies!