Independent Magic: Wind

“What are you doing?”

Citrus cracked open an eyelid to see Dreemurr kneeling in front of him. Behind him, a swarm of Wynglings tumbled around yelling, crying, and doing pretty much everything babies do to make noise; dishes clattered as Alma got food ready, and some of the older Wyngrew that still stayed at the Nook were doing the best they could to calm the children down. It was total, complete chaos, and the beige Wyngro looked about ready to turtle up in his sweater. His friend noted with a small laugh that Dree had tucked his lop ears into the turtleneck as best as he could to try and muffle the noise. “Hi Azzy,” he chirped. “I’m practicing.”

Dree looked around. “With what? Shouldn’t you be helping Alma?” 

“Well, um… Yes?” Citrus gave him a sheepish grin as he tucked his legs closer to himself. The older Wyngro had found an unoccupied corner to hole up in, out of reach of the chaos but still able to observe. Dree spotted books piled up next to him, and after a glance at his friend he reached out and grabbed one to look at its cover.

“A Beginner’s Guide to Magic,” he read aloud. With mounting curiosity, he leafed to the page Citrus had dog-eared. “Wind magic? I never thought… No, it fits you well, actually.”

Citrus beamed. “Thanks! Yeah, I-- Well, this is silly, but. I’m hoping I can maybe fly someday? Or maybe even just run fast! Or, or-- well, there’s a whole bunch of stuff I can do! ...If I get it down.” He’d begun wiggling in his seat as he babbled, but managed to contain himself again and sit as still as he could. “They say you need to be able to clear your mind, so… that’s step one.”

Dree lowered the book and looked over his shoulder. He couldn’t imagine trying to meditate in a place like this, and said as much. “If you want somewhere quiet, you could always come to the forest with me...”

“No, no, I’m good, I’m good!” Citrus held both hands up defensively. “I figured, well, why not try and focus in a really loud and noisy place, because if I can focus here, then I can focus anywhere!” Dree looked down at the page again and frowned, but Citrus didn’t notice (or maybe just didn’t care). “I mean, yeah, it’s gonna be hard, but… but I’m sure I can do it!”

Dreemurr closed the book and put it back on the stack, then sat down in front of Citrus. “Okay,” the lop-eared Wyngro said with a small shrug. “Show me.”

Citrus’s eyes fluttered closed. All of the noises of the Nook surrounded him, banging and crashing and trying to burrow into his skull; he tensed as if about to bolt away, but forced himself to try and relax. “Breathe in, breathe out,” he mumbled to himself at a low volume. “Focus.” Oh man, whatever Alma was cooking smelled good… No, no, he’s got this. Just gotta stay calm, stay centered, stay focused… Jeez the Wynglings were so loud, was he like that when he was a kid? Dree certainly wasn’t, in fact he’d hardly made a peep around other people he was so shy-- Augh, focus!

His ears twitched. He just needed to shut out everything and focus on a single noise… But there were so many, and it was so loud, and why did he even think this was a good idea?! He perked up as he heard something close to him; Dree was humming a simple tune, and he latched onto that as hard as he could. Focus on that noise. Tune out everything else, no matter how loud it is, and focus…

Citrus had never heard what magic was supposed to feel like. Maybe it was something that got taught in class, or something you were just supposed to know. But he felt something. The sounds around him dimmed ever so slightly. The normally solid black glands by his eyes flickered, then started to glow a wavering, unsteady orange. The humming hitched for a moment as Dreemurr stared at him, wide-eyed, then resumed...

His concentration broke. Citrus let out an uncharacteristic yell and buried his head in his hands. The sound around them ground to a halt as everyone turned to see what the commotion was, then gradually started back up once it became clear it wasn’t anything major (although he’d drawn the attention of several Wynglings who had overheard his explanation to Dreemurr). “Frick,” he half-swore. “I almost had it!”

“Sorry,” Dree squeaked out. His friend took a moment more to bemoan his failure, then wrapped his arms around the other in a sudden hug.

“Hey, no no no, it’s not your fault! But.. I think you were right. Maybe I was getting too far ahead of myself.” Citrus looked a bit bashful. “But-- I’ll keep practicing! I’m sure I can get the hang of this!”