( 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.
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.
[glow=black,2,300]THE FREEDOM OF FALLING[/glow]
— Reggan
