Welcome to Gaia! ::

Cattleya's vision had been long but pleasant, and she roused herself from it slowly. The soft red light all around her seemed gentle - an old friend. Or, perhaps, a new one.

It felt almost disappointing for the illusion of that gnarled old doe to disappear. What had her name been? Already Cattleya was forgetting, though it had seemed so distinct in her vision. She could feel the doe's wizened strength blooming anew in Cattleya's own, younger body, and she breathed out carefully.

She turned, feeling like someone must have noticed - and yet the only nouls she could see here were all minding their own business in the tree's shade. To them, Cattleya was just another person here to marvel at the tree's magic. And it was really, definitely magic, and it had picked her!

As if by magic then a familiar voice drifted on the breeze. "Cat...Cat..." she heard, and only one person called her Cat. She felt a smile making its way across her face again. Calelha sounded happy, which was a good sign. How had she finished already? No, it didn't matter - obviously the Tree knew that they were meant to be by each other's sides forever. "I'm right here, sister!" she called, letting her voice resonate in this large, empty space. A few of the surrounding nouls turned to give Cat dirty looks, but she didn't care. She and Calelha finally had gifts of their own!

She raced toward the voice she'd heard, stepping nimbly between the roots. "Oh, Calelha," she gushed as her sister came into view. "Wasn't it incredible?"

It was so very unusual to see Calelha genuinely shouting for joy, and yet it made Cat even happier to see her. Clearly everything had turned out well. Hearing that affirmation just cemented Cattleya's own satisfaction, too. Real adults. No one could say they didn't belong out and about, healing Vykeli.

"Me?" she asked, laughing. "Meet Lady Cattleya, officially a vivify apprentice!" She did an elegant little spin before giggling, again, and coming right up to Calelha's side. She knew it wasn't much to be proud of - yet - but how could Cat not be thrilled? The rest would come with time, and while it wasn't exactly what their family expected...

Well. Vivify users were respectable, in the Homewood. Cat's parents could deal with it; they always had. "What's your gift, though?" she asked. "We've got to put our heads together and figure out all the new possibilities we might make of our gifts." There was a grin in her voice.

All of Calelha's questions had run together a little in her mind. The most important thing right now was excitement, anyway, and they could talk more sedately as they began to make their way back toward the Homewood. Cattleya felt confident doing so: she had a gift now, in case something happened to them, and they'd been talented nouls before anyway.

The best ever might have been an exaggeration, but as far as Cat was concerned, it was probably true...right? Her mouth fell open when her sister said the word fungal though.

"You'll be walking your own path, then!" she grinned. It made sense for Calelha, with her creative mind. Cat knew virtually nothing about fungal nouls, but she was sure she and Calelha could make their own discoveries. "I know you'll be amazing at it."

The walk back was far more pleasant, with the sun beginning to set and the slower pace. They'd accomplished their goal, after all, so there was no longer any need to hurry at all. For once, Cattleya was quiet - quiet, but satisfied. She hadn't been willing to admit it before, but there had been tiny threads of doubt on the way here. Having that connection to her magic realized, though, made her thrilled.

"We should!" Cat squealed. Only she didn't particularly know what her gift meant either. "Only - well, I'll probably need a target." Vivify gifts relied on others being around to heal. While Calelha was here, as far as Cat knew, Calelha was perfectly healthy. "Let's...head over there."

Most of the Barrens was made of flat land, but there were some rock formations. The only thing Cat knew about mushrooms was that they thrived best in darker, damper places...which the Barrens kind of lacked. But perhaps in the now-long shadow of this rock, they'd be able to find somewhere that Calelha's ability might be useful. "We can try yours first, and then we can go looking for someone I can help."

Whatever that help might entail. Well - who knew? Maybe a resident of the Barrens would come seeking the sustenance Calelha brought, or...something.

It was tough to find signs of life out here. Cat followed absently after her sister, careful to look off into the distance for signs of tracks, too. It burned out here, and there wasn't too much wind. Sand moved, though, so that meant the tracks might not persist for as long as Cat would've liked.

Something that needed healing - that was what Cat's gift did, right? - was likely to be moving slowly, though. The log...it might make for a good shelter, actually. Perhaps that was what she needed to do.

Just then her sister let out a little interjection, and Cat looked up from her study of the log. "It must've worked," she murmured, ambling just a bit closer. The tree's magic...it'd been unmistakable. And she watched as her twin closed her eyes again and concentrated. Calelha had always been a hard worker, and eventually it had always borne fruit. As it did now: countless delicate little spores were floating around Calelha, drifting through the air as though Vykeli's magic itself had created them. And it had.

Cattleya couldn't help her fascination, and she was not alone in her admiration. As she murmured, "They're beautiful!" she caught a tiny movement out of the corner of her eye. A small snake was winding its way out of the log, its little tongue flicking out at the air. That had Cat quiet again, and she nudged at Calelha's side as if to alert her sister to its presence.

It was quite pretty itself - bedecked in glittering golden scales that would certainly have helped it blend into the environment. Only there was a tiny part of its body that was decidedly less shiny, and Cat winced as she recognized the buildup of sand caked over a wet wound. "Let me - " she began, keeping her voice gentle. She was addressing it, and not her sister.

The snake was a little nervous. It clearly trusted Calelha more than it did Cat: magic, on Vykeli, was generally something benign. Still, after some effort - and some focusing on the snake, and the little pattern on its scales that was obscured by dust and grime right now - Cat's horn lit up with an ambient glow, too. She looked over excitedly...but she hadn't finished yet, apparently. The snake just looked confused, though it slithered its way atop the log, comfortable with the sisters now.

Still, Cat couldn't just let her dear sister show her up, as much as she loved Calelha. She grinned over in excitement, though. "Almost there," she said thoughtfully.

She truly was almost there. A little wrinkled formed on her nose as she considered it, and then she moved in close and thought about - instead of the pattern on this snake's scales - the blood that must lay there, just below. She could feel the magic responding, then, something floating cheerfully out of her body and into the snake.

For once, Cattleya was at a loss for words, eyes wide with a little grin playing about her lips. "...Calelha," she said, soft but happy.