[SilkiyTea]

"Dah... How cruel..."

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If I have anything to say about myself, it's that I've never tried to be someone I'm not.

That is, until I met you.

Now I'm not sure whose staring at me when I glance towards a mirror, or catch my own reflection out of the corner of my eyes among the sandy waves. The woman that stares back at me looks so... Tired. It's funny, isn't it? I know she's done nothing to be so drained, I know she's made very little effort to change who she is. I know what she's like, and that she has no drive nor motivation to become anyone or anything new or interesting.

Because I'm her, and she's me.

Your boundless energies leave me drained. I can't keep up, and sometimes that makes me feel bad. Other times, I'm reminded of why I cherish you. It's cruel, you know? To take my hand, and drag me forward, when all I want to be is rooted in one spot. Like one of those old, aging oaks.

I'm waiting

For the day

When you see

That I'm not the person you saw me to be. When your eyelids are forced apart, and pinned open by needles and threads. I do not think I'll mind when it happens, it's the wait that'll kill me. But until then I'll keep trying, trying to be someone else. Someone I'm not, but someone I could be;

Architect

Pirate

Reliable

Treasures are precious things. Some people shovel dirt over their treasures, or hide and hoard them from the sights of others. But me? Well, I like to show them off and you've so much more energy than I ever shall. But, that's what I like most about you. Even if I'm awful at showing it, I think you get it. In your own way. 

It'd be cruel of me

To ask you to

Slow down.

I don't want to anyway. Instead, we'll have our fun. You and I. Playing pirates, and scavengers. Meeting new people, going on wild, stupid and dangerous adventures. I think it'll be interesting. Exhausting. But it'd be fun, don't you think? We've got our whole lives ahead of us to take it slow. So I'll try to speed up for a bit, yeah?

May our lives be filled,

With so many blessings...

And so many curses...

---

[SilkiyTea]

"A thousand per, then ah'll undahstand..."

---

Fire,

Water,

Lightning,

Wind,

Earth,

I've been collecting these crystals for the past three or four years, and I've taken to studying them on the side. I tell people that I collect them, for the sake of collecting them. But... That's not entirely true. I've been deciphering them, picking them apart.

What makes

them

tick.


Mana, of course. The bare bones understanding I've got of it, is mana. I've found that the older these things are, the higher chance there will be a crystal. Curbing the young magpawn will normally only bring about a fragment of one, one that is so, so dreadfully brittle that it'll shatter into dust before I can even inspect it.

What have I figured out, though?

I've figured out how to create my own. No, that's not entirely true. I've figured out how to emulate it, within my own crystal magic. It's not nearly as potent, it doesn't last forever, I cannot use it as an alchemical regeant but it's... So interesting.

To watch fire burn

To watch wind rip

To watch earth crush

To see lightning zap

I've found that they offer some respite in terms of medicinal use as well. Water crystals if crushed correctly can clean wounds better than actual water magic. Fire crystals can cauterize so cleanly and naturally that it doesn't even scar- which is unbelievable unless witnessed. Wind crystals can breath air into someones lungs if they're struggling to breath. Lightning crystals can jumpstart a heart, or even help dead nerves spark to life.

My favorite is earth ones. Earth magic is my speciality, after all. A few vines, a bit of earth crystal powder, and some spores applied to a body suffering from poison and you can grow these parasetic shrooms. Which, in turn, siphon the venom from the body like some sort of 'sponge'. Removing them is undeniably painful but the process is relatively clean.

It feels like a limitless well of potential. I'll recover a thousand each of these things. A thousand. Maybe it will grant me further insights, maybe it will do nothing. But a thousand each is enough that I believe I will be satisfied. Then, then I'll either stow them away, put them to good use, or sell them.

It's been a wild ride. Either way... Who knew I'd meet so many people, by virtue of gathering crystals...

1368 more to go...

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