Closed Winds of Discovery

[Sophia Sunshore]

"Speech"

Sophia simply watched as Kamilla either ignored or didn’t hear her words and stepped closer to the indent in the cliff. As the brunette placed her free palm on the surface of rock, the Svefra sub-consciously held her breath. It was a deliberate action, and though she didn’t know why, Sophia’s brain went immediately to magic.

She looked on as Kamilla ran her hand carefully down the rock face. Sophia could barely see anything thanks to the water streaming into her eyes, but it looked as though there was nothing to see. No lines followed the brunette’s hand, no lights appeared. There was just… the rock. Sophia caught the glance that Kamilla threw her way, and while she was still watching her companions face, from the corner of her eye she saw the stone vanish.

No, not vanish. She scrunched her eyes shut and bent her head over Pearl as sharp, gritty sand assaulted her face. Kamilla had turned the rock to sand, just by touching it, and it had barely seemed to take any effort whatsoever. As Sophia was processing the fact, the brunette ducked through the newly formed gap with a wave of her hand at Sophia to follow.

There was a long pause where Sophia simply stood and stared at the gap in the cliff that Kamilla had just stepped through. It had been magic. Kamilla could use magic. Her mid reeled, throwing up a memory from earlier in the season and a confrontation with a fellow Svefra. Rocks were earth, and earth was an element, just like water or air was. The magic of the elements she had learned, was called reimancy. And her father had wielded it to devastating effect. But Kamilla wasn’t like her father, was she?

The wind gusted anew, slamming into Sophia’s back and breaking her out of her thoughts. She couldn’t stay out in the storm any longer, which meant her only choice was to enter the cave after Kamilla. She ducked through the gap in the rock face, and the sound of the howling winds dampened, and her skin tingled in relief from the sudden lack of stinging rain.

Squinting into the darkness, Sophia could make up Kamilla ahead, and slightly reluctantly she moved forward to follow. Before she could examine the space further, the brunette was in front of her, an apology on her lips. A frown wound over the Svefra’s brow right as Pearl suddenly squawked loudly and forced her way out of Sophia’s arms.

“Pearl!” Sophia hurried after the little bird and scooped her back into her arms, worried that she would run back out to the storm. She turned back to her companion, eyes wide as she took in the flame-filled lantern hovering above the brunette with seemingly no assistance at all. Sophia kept herself close to the wall, facing Kamilla, caution written across her features.

“Y-“ Sophia wasn’t entirely sure what to say to the brunette. Everything she had seen Kamilla do since the pair had met had been for good. She had even recklessly put herself in danger just to make sure that Sophia would be safe. But the dread that had settled in her stomach at the realisation of the kind of magic Kamilla wielded wouldn’t shift.
“You use reimancy.” Sophia’s voice was a little unsteady, and it turned her statement into something of an accusation, though there was no anger in the Svefra’s features. Instead her eyes were wary, darting between Kamilla and the lantern repeatedly.

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

With the cave now illuminated by her Explorer's Globe, Kamilla's focus was on the newly revealed second chamber, rather than her companion. She took a step closer to peak into the second room, the lantern following nearby as it's light illuminated some of darkness, something within reflecting the light in bits, almost shimmering. Had they unwittingly happened upon a deposit of previous stones, or gold, while trying to escape the raging storm outside? Kamilla couldn't be sure, the second chamber was still too dark to see into. "I think there's some-..."

"You use reimancy."

She was cut off by the sound if Sophia's voice, a mixture of surprise and confusion on her face as she turned to face the svefra, finding the blonde pressed cautiously against the wall. She felt her body stiffen, it had been a long time since someone had reacted to her magic negatively, it was something she'd done her best to avoid by keeping it secret, though in this situation it could not be helped. "Sophia… I…" she began, unsure of how to proceed.

The svefra had referred to it as reimancy, clearly she was not ignorant to the magic, she hoped that her knowledge would help her accept the revelation more easily. "Yes, I did… If I hadn't we'd still be out there." She hoped the blonde wouldn't overreact. "How do you know about reimancy?" The itch in her throat pushed her to ask the question, curiosity slowly growing beneath the nerves.

Worst case scenario, the svefra would turn hysterical and flee the safety of the cave, Kamilla really hoped that wouldn't be the case, though Sophia's expression didn't quite match with those of the Sunberthians all those years ago. Perhaps the blonde would be more reasonable, she certainly hoped so.

"It's not a big deal Soph. Kam got us out of the storm didn't she."

For once, Kamilla was glad to hear Roo's androgynous voice, where it usually wouldn't say anything of use, the mage hoped it's words would be able to make the svefra see reason. She did not like the situation at all, the uncertainty, the lack of control.

Amidst the silent ordeal occurring inside the, now well lit, cave, Yennefer popped her head out of the bag at Kam's hip, inspecting her new surroundings. Wide green eyes locked onto the small bird's form, lip licking the feline equivalent of lips. Kamilla could feel the yowlwing shifting at her side and place a hand on her head to calm her down.

[Sophia Sunshore]

"Speech"

Back still against the cool wall, Sophia’s eyes followed Kamilla as the brunette moved to inspect a second chamber that her floating light had revealed. Something within had clearly piqued her interest, but the Svefra’s mind was stuck on only one track.

Wary blue eyes met the surprised browns of her friend. The stiffening of Kamilla’s posture did not go unnoticed, and the stumbled words that floated towards her made Sophia pause. However the uncertainty from Kam did not last long and her next words carried with much more confidence. She knew that Kamilla had gotten them to safety, the magic she had wielded had not been used to harm. But that pit in Sophia’s stomach was still there.

“How do you know about reimancy?”
Another pause from Sophia as she studied Kamilla. Before she could respond, Roo piped in. She had almost forgotten the little plant clutched in the brunette’s hand. Sophia pressed her lips together. She knew it, she did. She closed her eyes and the words were little more than a whisper.
“I know.”

Sophia was so tense that she almost jumped when the furry head of Kamilla’s feline appeared from the bag. The yowling was also noticed by Pearl, who fluttered anxiously in Sophia’s arms and tried to bury herself in the Svefra’s armpit. Sophia clutched the bird tighter, and when Kamilla moved her hand to settle the feline, she met her eyes again.

There was something in Kamilla’s eyes that led Sophia to believe the brunette was not quite as comfortable with the situation as she thought. She seemed to be looking at Sophia with a wariness that confused the blonde. Sophia took a breath before finally speaking.

“My father.” Sophia hadn’t spoken of what she had learned to anyone yet. Her world had been shattered and she was struggling to pick the pieces back up again. All her life she had believed one thing, and to have that belief crushed in a single conversation... She still saw the horrifying image of his lightning filled eyes whenever she tried to sleep.

“My father could use reimancy.” Of course that in itself was not the whole story. Another breath. “He used reimancy to terrorise innocent people, to…murder.” The last word was a whisper.
But Kamilla was not like him. Sophia knew it, deep down. The fear she felt was instinctive, a gut reaction, but that didn’t mean it was right.

“I know you’re not like him. I’m sorry. I just…” Sophia trailed off and took another breath. “I don’t understand it, and that’s all that I know of it.”
The wind outside was trying its best to come inside, the breeze picking up a little more through the slash in the rock face. To try and calm herself further, Sophia tried to think of something normal to say.
“Did you see something, through there?” She gestured with the hand holding the wand at the second cavern, though her still-wary eyes never left Kamilla’s face.

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

Given the situation, Kamilla was unsure of how to react, it was clear that Sophia was experiencing a vast inner turmoil as a result of witnessing the, lacklustre, display of reimancy. Turning stone into sand wasn't even an impressive use of her magic, if only the svefra knew how much more she was capable of, then again, given her reaction, it was probably for the best that she'd chosen a subtler method of creating the opening. Regardless, Sophia was upset, or startled, or scared? She was unsure, though as long as the svefra didn't turn violent or worse, tried to flee the safety of the cave, they'd be fine… she hoped.

“My father..."

A frown spread across Kamilla's face, confused about what the svefra's father had to do with their current predicament, but she remained silent, still scratching gently at Yennefer's ear to keep her calm. She assumed that Sophia would have more to say on the topic and would wait patiently, willing to give the svefra all the time she needed to calm down.

Her patience paid off, as her shelter companion began to speak again, explaining how it was that knew about reimancy. It seemed her father had been a reimancer, something that peaked Kamilla's interest, though she continued to listen, the svefra clearly having more to say on the matter. Hopefully it would explain why the svefra had been so startled by her use of the elemental magic. it did...

“He used reimancy to terrorise innocent people, to…murder."

Kamilla's eyes widened slightly in realisation, it certainly explained the svefra's reaction. Now that she understood, Kamilla wasn't surprised. She come from a city where magic terrified the residents to such a degree that their fear had turned to hatred and eventually anger. Anger she'd experienced first hand. "Sophia…" she began, pausing to listen again almost immediately.

It seemed that, despite her ignorance and evident disdain for the magic, Sophia was doing her best to calm down and look at the situation logically. Sighing softly to herself as she pulled the flap of her bag over Yennefer's head in an attempt to get the feline to settle down, Kamilla found herself at a loss for words, her mind scrambling to find the most reassuring thing she could say. She wasn't good at this, people were so unnecessarily complicated.

A sigh. "I'm sorry to hear that Sophia… but the thing about magic is… it's just a tool, it depends on how you use it." The svefra's father and Kamilla's use of reimancy to save them from the storm, was the perfect example.

She hoped her words would help, somehow, though hearing the svefra's attempt to change the topic, Kamilla decided to seize the opportunity to put some distance between themselves and the subject of magic. "Uh, yes. It looks like there's another small chamber in there."

Not wanting to linger on the ordeal any longer, Kamilla carefully turned and stepped through the small opening and into the chamber, her floating lantern following close behind and illuminating the area entirely.

There, on the floor in the centre of the room, Kamilla could see what looked like unusual looking eggs, resting on a shimmering folded piece of material. "What kind of creature do you laid these eggs?" Sophia was marked by the goddess of nature after all, surely she'd have all better idea. "They're beautiful…"

Her eyes were fixed to the blueish green egg on the left, blowing a bit of dust off of it before carefully touching it with the tip of her finger.

A warm feeling ran through her, it was a pleasant sensation and Kamilla could feel it gathering and intensifying on the left half of her body, heating up at the sights of the many shallow wounds inflicted by the debri. Thr light sting dissipating and causing Kamilla to inspect her bloody arm, wiping thr blood away and finding not a single scratch. "Amazing." she manage to gasp out as her gaze returned to the eggs.

[Sophia Sunshore]

"Speech"

Sophia was glad that Kamilla had stayed quiet while the Svefra had tried to compose herself enough to put her thoughts into words. She was also glad that the brunette didn’t immediately jump in with a defence or retaliation, instead sensing that there was more that needed to be said. While Sophia was terrified of the magic itself, she was not necessarily terrified of her friend, and she needed Kamilla to understand that.

"…it depends on how you use it."
Sophia nodded. “I know. I think I knew that already, I just… It took me by surprise and the only thing I really know for sure about it is what my father did…” While she didn’t exactly know how one would use reimancy, she did know that there must be more to it than death and terror. And she also knew that not everyone was so inclined to causing death and terror either. Such as Kamilla, who was once again peering through into the second chamber.

Slowly, Sophia pushed herself away from the wall and stepped nearer to the brunette. Instinct refused to let her get too close, but she was close enough to see into the gloom ahead of them. She paused, watching as Kamilla entered the chamber, the odd lantern following dutifully behind. The shimmer from what appeared to be a piece of folded cloth immediately drew her eye, and she ducked through the opening into the chamber herself.

Sophia moved over to where Kamilla was crouched near the cloth, with two perfect eggs nestled atop it. Kneeling on the floor to examine them closer, Sophia noticed they were both etched with patterns of feathers. No natural egg she had ever seen had engravings - surely the markings had to have been made by a person’s hand.
“I’ve never seen eggs like these before. They’re the size of a chicken egg though… And the patterns surely can’t be natural.”

She watched as Kamilla carefully picked up the blue-tinted egg, head tilting in curiosity at the gasp she emitted. Pearl struggled her way out of Sophia’s arms, fluttering away to peck at the ground, and Sophia reached out with her now-free right hand to pluck the other egg from the cloth. It was a deep green, marbled through with brown, and as she raised it to eye-level she was suddenly very aware that a feeling of warmth seemed to be emanating from it, running all the way down her arm.

A glance at Kamilla showed that the cuts beneath the smears of blood were no more, and Sophia expected she would now find the same thing on her own body. The warmth radiated up her neck, pooling on her cheek and she suspected the wound there had just knitted itself back together too. Wide-eyed, she returned her gaze to the egg sitting innocently in her palm. After a few moments she let out a very audible gasp.
“Wait… Kamilla have you ever seen a healing Gnosis before?”

Sophia had cast her mind back to Okara, the Konti she knew who used to live in Syka. She had been marked by Rak’keli as a healer, twisting winged serpents decorating her arm.
“Kam, snakes lay eggs too.” Surely though, it was fanciful of her to even think that what she was holding could be a product of such a creature. It must simply be a chicken’s egg that someone had put magic into, a thought which she voiced out loud. “Though I’m sure these are probably just normal eggs… You can put magic into an object, right?”

Carefully, she placed the egg into her lap and then brandished the metal wand at Kamilla, still clutched in her left hand. “What do you think this could be? I found it in the sand.” It was a silvery-grey wand with a large clear gemstone on the end. She hadn’t the faintest idea of what it’s purpose could be besides decoration, for it was indeed very pretty.