( written for the October cdc prompt "magic" !! )

When Wormwood had first discovered his fire elementals, it wasn't as if it was in the best conditions. He had been in the middle of a fierce battle in the Pitt, his body enveloped inflames as he had attacked Jervis, out for blood and guts and as he had come for the leader of the Pitt, the flames had just... come. They had surrounded his paws, they had surrounded his jaws, and they had surrounded his entire upper half. He hadn't exactly had a bunch of time to stop and practice when they had first activated, driven by his rage. In the aftermath of the battle, Worm had been recovering from his injuries and worrying so much about others that his fire elementals had been one of the last things on his mind. Hell, he had almost completely forgotten about the powers as time had gone on, and they hadn't come back to the forefront until after Wormwood had received his second form: his hellhound form, the one that he had been forced into unwillingly, and he had been surprised to find out that his fire elementals had worked... extremely well while he was in this alternate form. He was actually able to control them while he was in the hellhound form, and had even been able to strengthen or weaken the flames at will, granted that it certainly tired him the hell out. When it came to thinking about how to control these powers, he tended to think of them like the ancient magics that had been told of in legends when Wormwood had been just a little cub, listening intently to the stories that were full of magic, dragons, and heros that were known for ages after their heroics deaths.

For many moons, as the lion had slowly grown and come into his own, he had gradually realized that the stories he had been told in his youth had actually had a certain layer of truth to them. After all, he had seen dragons before in the various groups that now resided in this world, elementals were like the interesting magic that had been used by the wizards in the stories, and there were certainly heroes here in the real world. After all, he thought of many different people that he had met through his travels that he could consider "heroes", like Goldie, or Red. He certainly considered them heroes and thought of both of them as people that he looked up to. Of course, there were more complicated emotions involved when it came to thinking about Red, but most of all he respected the other male, and thought that he was worthy of the title "hero", even if Red wouldn't agree. Above all, Wormwood certainly thought that Red or Goldie deserved the "magical powers" that elementals represented to him, far more than he did. Of course, unbeknownst to him, Goldie did have her own elementals in store that he just hadn't seen in action yet, so it wasn't as if he was the only one with a few tricks up his sleeve. Nevertheless, he was fairly sure that if Goldie did have the elemental "magics" that he respected so much, she had probably already mastered them by now, while he was still struggling to be able to use and control them when he wasn't absolutely furious. So, Wormwood had decided to do what his father had always told him to do when he needed to get better at fighting, or anything else – practice, practice, practice. The last time that his powers has activated, Worm had been attacking Bai Shi as revenge for what the other had done to Red. That had been yet another time when he had been full of rage, however, and he needed to figure out how the hell to do things without the rage.

Deciding that he was going to practice with these "magics" today, Worm had shapeshifted into his grotesque hellhound form, pulling out one of his multiple dummies in order to practice. He dragged out the dummy over to where the shire was, settling the dummy against the sand before he took a deep breath, closing his eyes and focusing. It was several moments before the air around Worm began to crackle with power, before eventually flames enveloped Worm's huge clawed paws, and a grin spread over his face as soon as he saw them. He barked softly to himself as he charged forward, slashing his claws down in an x over the dummy's chest, watching as it easily caved beneath his claws, the fabric charring and curling inward from the flames, "Hell yeah! This is finally working!" A sharp grin was on his face as he made the flames rise and fall, growing in intensity and fading away. He didn't know why the hell he had so much more control over his powers while in his hellhound form, rather than his lion one, but at least if he had control in some form, it would give him an advantage in combat when they finally went against the Pitt, an event that he prayed would be soon, so that he could rescue his son.

He trained enthusiastically for several more moments, until his muscles were burning from the effort and the scent of flames and smoke permeated the inside of his nose, filling his senses. However, he was interrupted from his training by a voice cutting through the air, "Ey, you! I don't mean to make you use your powers for something so trivial, but... could you help us cook some stuff, please?" Worm blinked in surprise over at the clanmate that had addressed him, as well as the large group of others behind him eagerly waiting for their food to be cooked. Worm hesitated for a moment before chuckling and nodding, moving over to where they had set up a small firepit in the sand. Reaching a paw out, Wormwood set the wood ablaze and let the flames rise and fall before he turned to the group and chuckled. As time went on, Wormwood chuckled and smiled as he sat back on his haunches, watching the food roasted above the flames. Eventually the group ended up growing in size until it was practically a small event, with everyone sitting around, joking and hanging out as they ate their wonderfully cooked food. Worm couldn't help the little amused smile on his muzzle as he continued his cooking, finding it rather funny that the "magics" of his childhood were now being used to roast meals for others. The large group at the makeshift cookout would probably attract the attention of everyone nearby, since there was lots going on. Worm felt a bit lonely just sitting and cooking the food, but he didn't mind it too much.

P e i s k o s .  n.
The crackling of fire presents a soothing sound.  An atmosphere fitting for a place acting as a 'sanctuary for wayward souls'.  A gentle but distinctly alive sound.  At the source it appeared Wormwood stood.  The young wildcat glanced around him, indeed lulled over by the curiosity of such an impromptu gathering.

Torren found a small smile playing his lips at the sight of the cookout.  His sister, an avid traveler, had always preferred simple campfire meals than elaborate royal dinners.  Of course, he understood the appeal.  The youth believed meals shared closer together, with less formality, strengthened bonds more than fanciful events wrought with so much etiquette.

He inclined his head at the male, noticing how alone he appeared compared to the rest of the cookout's attendees.  I suppose he was only roped in to cook.  Further, Torren felt more intrigue on the manner of cooking, as it seemed to him the flames danced at Wormwood's command.

"Seems like they picked the right cook."

It seemed as though Wormwood wouldn't be left alone for too long, since the approach of Torren made him look up in surprise, a soft smile coming upon his face at the male's words. He and Torren, despite having commonly been in the same place at the same time when things were going on, had never actually had any very personal conversations, just one on one. Still, Worm found that he enjoyed the company of the young male, since he was always polite, and they had several things in common that often fascinated Wormwood when he thought about them. When Torren commented on his cooking, the one eyed hellhound chuckled softly and mumbled as he made the flames dance between his claws, rising and falling rhythmically as he spoke,  "I suppose that they did. Well... I'm sure they would have picked anybody with fire elementals, really. But I'm sure none would be as good at the actual cooking as me. Or, at least, that's what I tell myself in order to feel like I'm not just an oven here." He chuckles softly at his own little joke, shaking his head. He could already feel the faintest of headaches beginning to form at one of his temples, the side effect of using his powers for a prolonged amount of time. Thankfully, it seemed as though the rest of the food would soon be finished, and he could take a break, but in the back of his mind he was almost sad about it, since it meant he wouldn't have much reason to stay at the little gathered social event. Even if he knew no one well with the exception of Torren, he still enjoyed the presence of others around him. It made him feel safe, and the voices all around made him faintly smile.

If Wormwood had known that Kiira had only come over to the little group of Tanglers because of Torren, well... he wouldn't have been offended, really. He would've just found the sort of developing friendship and possible puppy love of the two of them to be pretty damn adorable. Of course, he wouldn't directly confront either or them about it, not wanting to fluster either Torren or his glitching counterpart, but he could still notice the way that Kiira occasionally lingered her gaze on Torren, wanting to be closer to him than she would be with most other people. And perhaps he was just overthinking things, and Torren and Kiira were just really good friends, but that was just as adorable, considering the fact that Kiira didn't have very many close friends to his knowledge. He knew that he sort of scared Kiira, ever since the whole incident with Roman and everything that had happened I'm the aftermath, but he hoped that at some point he could make it up to her and have her not be so skittish around him. After all, he didn't really like having any clanmate scared of him, even Feza, and especially not a kid like Kiira. When the arctic fox approached he and Torren, he offered her a small and calm smile before turning back to the flames he was dancing over his paws, letting her settle down beside Torren. He heard her words and began to contemplate them, before he felt the faintest beginnings of a headache pressing beneath one of his eyes as he made the flames rise one again. He chuckled softly and said as he pulled his paw back, resting it against the ground and rumbling as he turned towards Torren and Kiira, smiling and ignoring the pain splitting slowly through his skull, "You're very right to warn me, Kiira. I sometimes forget just how much using powers can take out of you... I think I'll be done for today, considering the headache I'm starting to feel right under my eye." He shook his head a bit and let the flames just return to their normal and natural state, stretching out a bit and letting his body relax from using his powers, a breath slowly leaving him.

D o k i d o k i. n.
Honestly a blush certainly would have taken a hold of the wildcat's face should Wormwood have mentioned such thoughts aloud.  He still remembered the moment he met Kiira, frozen on the spot by her remarkable eyes.  They still held a particular interest to the youth, although he fiercely withheld himself from staring too long, least he make her uncomfortable in the slightest.  Since their night stargazing, his thoughts often lingered on the gentle-hearted vixen.

He might have laughed any suggestions of 'puppy love' from Wormwood, but the truth was, he'd fallen the second they discovered each other in the library that night.  The wildcat simply dismissed the notion whenever it drifted in his mind, for fear of ruining his good impression with her.  Worse, he hardly knew where to start processing such feelings, or communicating them.  For the time being, he felt more than content to be among the beautiful medic's friends.  After all, she seems so lonely sometimes.

Torren fails to hide his happy grin however, as the fox sits besides him.  A sure act of trust in such a shier soul, unless he was simply over analyzing such.  Her words caused him to pause however, pondering the idea that his own abilities could leave him in an unhealthy state.  While he had never shown off his capabilities to shapeshift, the prince had dedicated a great deal of time and practice to the art.  If he attempted to shift multiple times in a day, or into something dramatically different from himself, would he feel such affects?  Something to attempt with the proper herbs on hand.

"Personally, I believe cooking takes extra talent above simply possessing the ability to manipulate fire," he dictated after a moment, nodding his head in support for the hellhound. 

"Believe me, I have a younger sister, Kiia; she can't do any fire manipulating but... Well, I don't think her cooking skills would improve if she did," his whiskers twitched at the possibility.