The Day Magic Died Prompt 1

The greying black mare stood there in silence, staring after the deity. Shade, her familiar, croaked softly and Morana glanced to where he rested on her shoulder, before looking to the others. The blue mare had a raised eyebrow, and Mor agreed with the sentiment.

"Well that was... something," Morana said. She hadn't quite been prepared for the Windy Deity's energy. Really, wasn't it too early for that kind of peppy sunshine smiley vibe? "I'm Morana, by the way," Mor added. "And this is my familiar, Shade."

"My names Caitriona, but you can call me Cait!" The blue mare with appaloosa markings said, with an upbeat tone. Oh no, was this another morning person? "That was certainly... something," Cait agreed.

"I'm Goatse," the Skellicorn said softly, almost a bit shy. "It's nice to meet you. Backwards singing winds, he said?" 

Morana watched as Goatse shook his head in confusion and silently agreed with the sentiment. 

“How can he possibly expect anyone to understand what that is supposed to mean?”

Goatse's words voiced exactly what Morana was thinking, but tried to look as confident in their task as she could. Not like she felt completely unprepared for this or anything. None of her magics were any help here!

"So.... Where should we start?" Mor said, looking around at the land that spread out around them. 

"We might be able to cover more ground if we split up," Cait mused. "I could check out the beach, see if the winds there are really backwards like Frysil said!" 

"I'll use chimes!" Goatse offered, and Morana let out a surprised snort of laughter before nodding. That was a good idea! And seemed quite fitting, in a strange way. 

"I have wings for my Regional Form," Morana said. "I could head further inland and see if I can get a feel for the wind currents. And maybe see a tornado," she mused. "Plus, since my familiar is winged, we can both cover the skies." 

Cait and Goatse nodded. "That seems like a good idea," Cait offered. 

“I’ll head north and see if I can figure out what is happening with the winds there.” Goatse said.
“Before I do though, could one of you help attach these chimes to my pole?”

Mor watched as Goatse pulled a pair of chimes from his bag, and held back her confusion of why was he carrying those? Cait had stepped forward to help, and Morana went through her mental list of what all needed done, and what areas to cover. She glanced back over to see the progress and couldn't help but speak up.

“Remember to tie it tight and secure it with a good knot. He won't be able to reattach it if it comes loose and he’s out there all alone," Mor said, then quickly looked away. 

Morana paused a bit awkwardly, not certain if she should say anything else. These were strangers, it wasn't the same as adventuring with friends. 

"Well, no time like the present to start!" Morana said, with a bit too much forced enthusiasm as she glanced between her teammates for this quest. "Should we meet back here at dusk?" 

At the others nods, Morana let her wings spread and took to the sky, Shade croaking and flapping his wings as well, moving to glide beside her. 

 

That was so stupid, Morana thought to herself. I just made a total fool out of myself. Should we have done some sort of icebreaker, get to know each other more? Should uh. We have done some kind of team hoof-shake or chant? Ugh, I don't know how any of this works!

Shade croaked in amusement at Morana's string of conflicted thoughts and she snorted to herself and turned her mind back to the task.

It seemed paying attention was a bit overdue, and Morana felt the winds shift beneath her wings moments before the wind pressed down from above, shoving her from the sky and plummeting toward the ground. 

 

The downdraft let up enough that Morana was able to shove herself out at the last minute, spreading her wings and activating her shield magic to make a less than graceful landing. A loud bird call from above had Morana looking up in panic as Shade was thrown around by the wind. She swiftly reached out, blending her shield magic and telekinesis to create a bubble of calm around Shade, and pull him down to her. 

The use of the magic drained the last bit of energy out of Morana. Her magic, which had been unstable to begin with, was a limping, wounded creature now. She tucked it deep within her, and turned to Shade. The crow was trembling, but safe, and Morana silently thanked whatever luck had allowed her magic to function long enough to rescue her familiar. 

Mor tucked her familiar close, and he clung to the mane at the base of her neck, sitting on her back between her wing joints.

"Well, there is certainly something wrong here," Morana mused, looking up at the sky above her. The winds, which had been supporting her, had suddenly turned. They didn't flow like they had previously when she visited the Windy Region. The last time she had flown through the Windy Region they had supported her, encouraged her, played with her. Now, they seemed an ominous foe. 

"I guess... I guess we keep looking," Mor murmured. 

 

Morana stuck to the ground as she wandered further toward where the winds seemed to be coming. It was certainly strange. It hadn't been that long since she and Sidra had been wandering the Windy Region in search of answers, and yet here Morana was again, doing the same. This time however, the very region seemed to be against her. Something felt foreign and dangerous, something she had never encountered before. 

It was getting late when Morana finally paused, looking around. It was as if she passed through some weird barrier, and the winds felt normal now. She began to retrace her steps back, but no matter what she did she couldn't find that barrier again. With a wary look at the sky, Morana spread her wings and took off.

 

Mor met up with the others as dusk was falling. She gave her report of what she had discovered, that strange shift in the air that sent her to the ground, and the discovery of the weird barrier that seemed to disappear whenever she was actually looking for it. 

"There is definitely something going on, I don't know quite what to make of it," Mor finished, glancing at the others. "What did you find?" 

Mor listened as they gave their reports and frowned slightly. "Well... all in all we might be able to discover more in the morning. Should we rest for now?" she asked.

At the others assent, Morana got herself settled for the night. Before she drifted off she checked Shade over for any injuries she might have missed earlier. Despite being sore from the winds, Shade was otherwise doing well. With a sigh, Morana stared at the sky for a while before she was finally able to drift off.